Stormy
by loseriffic
Summary: *FINISHED* There's a new girl in Hogwarts for their fifth year.. been labeled 'not a mary sue' before, so i'm assuming it's worth your reading. Draco/OC, Ron/OC, Harry/Ginny
1. Enter the Gothic Leprechaun

Diagon Alley. The starting point for many young witches and wizards headed towards their enrollment and attendance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was very crowded around this time of year, as many students and full-grown witches and wizards alike swarmed the streets, searching for wands and owls, among other things.  
  
The Weasleys, a family of six (actually a family of nine, but only six were in attendance) pushed past the crowds hurriedly. The two twins, Fred and George, also the second-oldest sons of the group, were deliberately bumping into people, and laughing all the way. Mrs Weasley shouted an apology over her shoulder and scolded them, even though she knew it wouldn't do any good.  
  
"Ron, dear. Are you sure they said twelve-thirty?" Mrs Weasley called, while trying to latch her hand on her youngest son's shoulder and balance a birdcage in the other arm.  
  
The young redhead rolled his eyes. "Yes, mum! Twelve-thirty! Not one, not one-thirty; twelve-thirty." They were meeting Ron's friends Harry and Hermione on the steps of Gringott's Bank. They were careful to choose a huge building so it would be easier to find. Rumor had it that Hogwarts was accepting more and more students this year other than first-years, so they had assumed Diagon Alley would be twice as crowded this time.  
  
Percy, the oldest, who was merely along for fun-and maybe the chance of 'accidentally' bumping into some pretty girls he knew, checked his watch. "Well in that case, we're late." he called and his mother heaved an exasperated sigh.  
  
"Ron.."  
  
"I know, mum! I know! I can't get anywhere with all these damn shoppers!" he shouted, subconsciously cursing.  
  
"Ronald Weasley! Watch your language! We're in public, for heavens sake!"  
  
Her shouting was answered by the wave of his hand over his shoulder dismissingly. This would have normally landed him in a heap of trouble, but she was too busy trying to keep Fred and George from knocking people over. Ron was becoming very frustrated with not only his mother, but all the shoppers also. Finally, they made it out of the jungle and into an almost clear section at Gringott's Bank. Ginny, the youngest out of them all, was tagging behind Fred and George, secretly laughing at their attempts to knock random people over.  
  
After a few moments of searching, Fred looked at Ron. "I don't see them." He informed. George seconded it with a nod.  
  
It had been how many years now that she had interests in Harry, almost four? She had finally gotten over her huge, embarrassing crush two years back, however. She tried not to think about it, really; it was awful. She didn't even seem to realize that he didn't like having his best friend's younger sister drooling over him every time he came into the room. So finally, during her Third Year, she had realized that he was just Harry. He deserved to be treated like a normal person, and ever since then, that's what she had done. Her crush had somewhat dissolved, but at least now he was at least talking to her more frequently.  
  
"There they are!" Ron exclaimed, pointing over to the corner of the steps, where Harry and Hermione were just emerging.  
  
"Well.. who's that other girl with them?" Mrs Weasley asked no one in particular.  
  
The fist thing that came to Ron's mind when he saw her, he couldn't decide: scary or dark.  
  
The girl was very short, probably a few inches below Hermione's height. She had a lot of dark eye make-up on and it was smudged under her eyelids, which emphasized on her fairy-like features. Her face told Ginny she was Harry's age, but her tiny body told her a year younger. She was wearing black.shorts, she guessed? They came down to her mid-calves and were very baggy with a chain coming from her pocket. Black Converse All Stars adorned her baseball-socked feet, and a tee shirt of the same color that said "Rufio!" on her top.  
  
Rufio? What's a Rufio?  
  
And oh, her hair.. what had she done to herself? Cut short, flipped out in the back, and long bangs faming either side of her face. But that wasn't what brought the attention to her, it was that it was blue! She had blue hair! She seemed to be a little like his oldest brother Bill, except more extreme. Obviously her parents weren't on her back all the time about the way she dressed the way his mum was.  
  
However, the girl didn't seem to be some kind of psycho killer or anything. She was laughing and smiling and enjoying herself, and making Hermione and Harry laugh themselves red.  
  
"She seems.." his mother didn't finish her sentence due to lack of words.  
  
George was staring too. "She's bloody hot!" he exclaimed, and Fred nodded quickly. Mrs Weasley looked at them in shock and Percy looked at her judgingly and back to them. "She looks like something spawned from You-Know- Who!" he exclaimed.  
  
Fred rolled his eyes. "Percy, just because you like your girls neat, prissy and.. girly - "  
  
George cut in. "Which actually doesn't make sense at all, because I heard that opposites attract." Fred laughed; Percy stood there trying to figure out if his brother had just called him feminine. (Which, of course, he had.)  
  
"Well.. let's go." Ron said, and advanced toward the steps. Once again, Hermione and Harry were laughing at something this girl had said. If they liked her, she couldn't be too bad.  
  
"Ron!" Harry called, and waved. Ron waved back awkwardly as the girl turned around to see who everyone was looking at. She smiled warmly and suddenly got quiet as the Weasleys reached the steps. "Hello Ginny," he said. "How was your summer?"  
  
"Hi, Harry." She said, flashing a smile. "It was wicked, but I'm glad to be going back."  
  
Ron rolled his eyes. "Hello Harry, Hermione." He said, nodding to each of them. Hermione smiled and said hello back, and Ron looked at the strange new girl inquisitively.  
  
Hermione suddenly snapped her head up. "Oh! I'm sorry. Ron, I'd like you to meet Fae O'Connor. She's one of my friends and she's just now attending Hogwarts for her fifth year. She's one of the new students."  
  
Fae extended her hand. "Hello Ron. Nice to meet you." She said and the Weasleys immediately picked up on her Irish accent.  
  
Percy mumbled something about a "Gothic Leprechaun" and received a punch in the arm from Fred.  
  
Ron smiled and nodded, but then looked at her hand cautiously. Black nail varnish? He quickly shook it though, as to not look rude. As soon as he had let go, the two twins eagerly stuck out their hands.  
  
"I'm Fred! And he's George!" Fred rushed, and George nodded, both of them grinning from ear to ear. Fae stood there for a minute and then slowly shook the both of their hands. She looked very, very confused.  
  
"Nice to meet you two." She said nonetheless, and threw on a smile.  
  
Eventually, she had shaken everyone's hand and Mrs Weasley sighed. "Well! I'll leave you all to do your shopping, meet me back here at three-thirty if not sooner, all right?" She had barely finished her sentence before they all shot down the street. "Be careful! Stay away from Knockturn Alley!" she called behind them.  
  
+ + +  
  
Fae and Hermione were standing inside Olivander's, waiting for her wand to be boxed: 12 inches, Dragon heartstring, Ebony. They were both talking with the twins, and Fae had to memorize their shirt colors so she could tell the two apart. Hermione, however, could tell just by looking at them.  
  
Harry, Ron, Percy and Ginny came in the door just as Fae was being handed her wand, and they all headed outside. "Sorry I was late, by the way, Harry." Ron said, shifting one of his bags from his left hand to his right. "Mum was being really frustrating, and everyone kept stopping to look in the windows. The crowds are a bloody hell, too." Harry was about to reply, but was caught off guard by a sudden interruption.  
  
"Sounds just like you to be late, Weasley." A very snide and familiar voice was heard from behind them. They all turned around in sync and were face-to- face with none other than Draco Malfoy. "Honestly, what's next?" he raised an eyebrow and folded his arms across his chest.  
  
"Why don't you tell us, seeing as to how you know everything," Fae mumbled, shoving her hands in her pockets.  
  
Hermione covered a grin and watched as Draco just stared. For once, he didn't have some kind of comeback ready in his mind. After a few moments, Fae tilted her head and plastered a sarcastic smile on her face. "That's okay, take your time." She kept going.  
  
Percy pointed out how full of sarcasm she was to Fred, who really wasn't listening any way.  
  
"What is he staring at?" Ron mumbled to Harry, who shrugged.  
  
Draco only stared more, and a smirk covered his face. This extremely irked Fae; she had enough people staring at her like she was behind glass for one day. Was it really that big of a deal that she didn't dress like the others? She mumbled something in Gaelic and turned around.  
  
The bleached-headed boy ignored her order and stuck out his hand. "Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." He said, un-intentionally sounding just like James Bond. Fae slowly turned around to face him, and looked down at his hand. She looked back up at him and didn't touch him. "Alright, double-o-seven. I'm Fae."  
  
Half the group behind her snickered, and the blonde one didn't get it (How ironic).  
  
"Malfoy, just get lost." Hermione repeated what Fae had said earlier. She knew he was up to no good; he never was up to anything but bad. Percy put his hand on her shoulder from behind and watched Draco, just waiting for the chance to leap at any of his screw-ups.  
  
He again ignored the order, and instead tried to get Fae talking. "I assume that I'll be seeing you at Hogwarts this year." He said.  
  
Unfortunately, Fae thought, but instead replied with a simple "Aye." For a long time Draco just looked at her with that evil grin.  
  
"Well!" Harry suddenly exclaimed. "We best be going, right Fae?" he lightly pressed his weight down on her foot with his own. She blinked.  
  
"Uhhh, yeah!" she said as if snapping out of a trance. She looked at Draco. "Later then," She said. She didn't want to be completely rude; she didn't need an enemy before school had even started. He only nodded his head with that knowing grin still on his face.  
  
She linked her arm with Hermione (The twins immediately looked at each other with huge, excited smiles. They were thinking the same thing; "Girl- on-girl action!") Fae looked over her shoulder at Draco, who was now with someone she assumed was her father. Long blonde hair and that same stuck-up look that his son shared. "That was weird." She said. "He's very.. pigheaded, aye?"  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed. "Undoubtedly! He makes me sick. He's always trying to mess up anything Harry does, no matter how big or small." Her very proper English accent was filled with annoyance.  
  
"Well I can tell I'll be really looking forward to seeing him throughout the entire bloody year." She said sarcastically and rolled her eyes as Hermione had. The others laughed and she looked at the rest of the group.  
  
"Where to next, lads?"  
  
+ + +  
  
"Run.. at the wall." Fae repeated, staring at the bricks before her. They were at the train station headed towards their ride to Hogwarts. She had just been explained the ways of Platform 9 ¾, and found it very hard to believe that she was to run straight into something solid and simply "go", as they had described it.  
  
"Yeah, but you best do it fast or it won't work." Fred explained. Fae looked at him in disbelief, thinking this was some strange practical joke that they played on all Hogwarts first-timers. "Here, George and I will go first and show you." He turned to his brother and motioned for him to follow him, then looked at the oldest Weasley son and his mother.  
  
"Goodbye, Percy. 'Bye mum! Send us an owl!" he called, and received a nod from his brother and a big smile from his mom. George was first. (Fae could tell because of the Green-not blue-sweater) He pushed his cart ahead of him and ran, and just as he had explained, passed through the wall. Fae's jaw dropped as Fred went after him.  
  
Harry looked at her. "See?" he said, and laughed at her shocked expression.  
  
"Dude! My turn!" she exclaimed, and ran at the wall. "Later Percy, Mrs Weasley! Nice meeting you!" she called over her shoulder, just before she disappeared in.  
  
Hermione and Ginny went in next, and just before Harry pushed his cart, Ron grabbed it and stopped him. Harry looked at him inquisitively. "What is it, Ron?" he asked.  
  
He looked at the brick wall again. "This Fae girl." He said in a whisper. For some reason he thought there was the possibility that she was eves dropping and not staring in awe at the changed scenery on the other side of the wall. "Is she.. all right?"  
  
"What do you mean, like all right in the head?"  
  
He nodded, looking around to see if anyone could somehow hear the conversation. Harry laughed. "Of course she's all right. Sure, she dresses a little weird.. well, more than a little. But just give her a chance. Now come on, we're going to be late. G' bye, Percy! Thanks for everything Mrs Weasley!" And with that, he had disappeared behind the brick.  
  
Ron sighed reluctantly and followed.  
  
Fred and George laughed loudly as Harry's chocolate frog flew out the window. It had done that every year he had been on the Hogwarts Express.like bad luck, or something. Ginny immediately offered him hers, and he took it very thankfully.  
  
They were all sharing a compartment, and it was a tight fit. On one side it was Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione. Across from them it was Fred, and George, with Fae in-between them (God help her). Their robes and coats took up the empty space on their side, so they were just as squished. It wasn't an uncomfortable ride and Ginny couldn't complain, because she and Hermione had worked out her being squished up next to Harry.  
  
"Could you be any more loud if you tried to be?" Hermione suddenly hissed, silencing the compartment. She looked very annoyed, lowering her book from her face. "I'm trying to get some last-minute studying in."  
  
Everyone nodded and quieted down, for only a few moments before they exchanged glances and burst into fits of giggles. Ron took Hermione's extremely thick book from her as she clawed at him to give it back. He shook his finger and held the book before her face, balanced on one hand.  
  
"You wouldn't." she narrowed her eyes at him, just daring him to do it.  
  
Ron raised an eyebrow. "Oh I wouldn't, would I?" He put it closer before her and shut it loudly.  
  
"Hey! Ro-oonnn! You made me lose my page!" she exclaimed worriedly. She forcefully grabbed the book from him and began to search through the pages frantically. "I really need to study! I've gone days without looking over my periodic tables of potions!"  
  
Ron sighed irritably. "Herm! Have some bloody fun. We're not even halfway there yet. You'll have plenty of time to study. Besides, you've got your nose buried in a book all the time any way, it won't make much of a difference."  
  
Fae sighed too. "Let the girl read. You know we're all going to have our tails between our legs begging for her to help us with homework. At least give her this much liberty."  
  
Ron stared at her for a moment, and opened his mouth to say something, but the words wouldn't come out. Fred and George exchanged glances.  
  
"Ooooh, Ron! Shut DOWN!" The two exclaimed.  
  
Fae looked surprised too. "What? No, I wasn't trying to-" she started quietly, but was cut off by a painful and congratulating slap on the back by George.  
  
It eventually quieted down and Fae yawned tiredly. She shifted until she was comfortable and ended up with one foot resting on Harry's knee-when she had done this, Ginny had moved closer to him, and was pleased as he put his arm around her. Of course at first he made it look like he was joking, but it 'accidentally slipped his mind' and he kept it there.  
  
Fae stretched as best as she could in the cramped car. "Well I'll be going to sleep then. G'night gents."  
  
Ron took note that she seemed to refer to them all as male; she had been calling them "lads" and just then "gents".  
  
Must be an Irish thing, he concluded, stifling a yawn. He was beginning to grow tired himself. He finally gave in and put his head up against the closed door to the compartment. Eventually, everyone was either asleep or trying to.  
  
They had been like that for maybe twenty minutes or so, when the Hogwarts Express suddenly came to a screeching halt. Everyone opposite of Fae, George and Fred in the compartment was thrown onto the others. Hermione and Fred cracked heads, and Hermione was biting her lip hard to keep the tears in her eyes from falling down her cheeks.  
  
After a few moments, Harry spoke. "Is everyone okay?" he asked. There were murmurs of replies, and Hermione just nodded her pained head. She had her hands pressed firmly over her forehead and her eyes squeezed shut.  
  
Seconds later, the lights flickered and went out. Ron muttered a curse word under his breath, and a gasps from the other students outside their compartment. The sun had just set and it was hard for them to see anything.  
  
"Nobody move," Ron ordered, and managed to stand of from the mass of tangled arms and legs. He reached the door and grabbed the handle, but it wouldn't open as hard as he pushed. "Locked." He mumbled.  
  
Hermione already had her wand out. "Aloham-" she started, but Ron cut her off.  
  
"I've got it this time." He said, pointing her wand at the ground with his. She rolled her eyes; still keeping one of her hands firmly pressed against her forehead, she put her wand away. Ron turned back to the door and cleared his throat.  
  
"Alohamora!" he said in a defying voice. Tiny white sparks came out of the end of his wand and the door made a clicking noise. He smiled, pleased with himself, and opened the door. Seconds later, the twins were behind him, and finally the others.  
  
Fae had her arm linked with Hermione again, helping her walk; she wouldn't open her eyes and kept them shut tightly. Harry looked at Hermione sympathetically. Apparently she didn't have as hard a skull as Fred did- which wasn't too hard to believe-he seemed a little dizzy, but unhurt.  
  
They started to make their way to the front of the cars, thankfully they were only in the third, and most of the other students were still locked up in their compartments, so it wasn't too hard to reach the front. The group murmured and walked with their arms out before them as to not run into anything. Several times one of them stumbled, but they eventually made their way to the front.  
  
The group reached the car before the engine car, with Ron in the lead. He was about to open the door, but Hermione suddenly grabbed him and pulled him back.  
  
"Hermione, what the bloody-"  
  
"Shhh!" she silenced him, and he kept talking.  
  
"Don't tell me to be quiet when you're the one-"  
  
"RON! Shut up!" the entire group hissed in unison. He finally quieted down and realized why. There were voices on the other side of the door.  
  
"You don' think that.." one of them was obviously Hagrid.  
  
"I am not sure, Hagrid. I only hope that this is just some child's idea of a joke." The other was professor McGonagall, and she sounded worried.  
  
Suddenly, Harry gasped and clasped his hand up to his forehead. "Ah!" he exclaimed painfully, and there was a silence on the other side of the door. They must have heard them.  
  
"Harry, is it your scar?" Ginny questioned, grabbing onto his arm worriedly. She could barely see him nod in the darkness. She looked at Ron, and she could see him looking back just the same.  
  
The voices on the other side went on. "Severus, if you would please make sure that no student has used any unlocking spells." McGonagall said, and the group knew for sure they had been heard.  
  
"Yes." Came the one-worded reply of the sinister professor. Seconds later there were footsteps. They didn't have any time to react before the door swung open and Snape stood before them, barely visible in the dark. They held their breath and hoped somehow he would just pass right by them all and not notice. But of course, Snape was an educated man, and pulled out his wand.  
  
"Lumos." He said plainly. 


	2. The Sign in the Train Tracks

Chapter Two: The Sign in the Train Track  
  
The room lit up, the source being his wand, and he pointed it at the group, shining it in their eyes. They shielded their faces and squinted, as he scoffed quietly.  
  
"Well, well, well, I should have known." He said, and pointed his wand at the ground. "It's none other than our little celebrity and his fan club." He paused. "Although.. you seem to be missing one of your members. Where might miss Granger be?"  
  
They looked amongst their group. Hermione was, in fact, missing. They exchanged glances worriedly; she had been there a moment ago. When Harry and Fae's eyes met, she jerked them to the door of a nearby closet, trying to be inconspicuous. He looked at her inquisitively and she barely mouthed the word 'closet', and he nodded slightly.  
  
"Hermione's back in the compartment." Fae spoke up.  
  
Snape looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "And you've gained a new fan club member. How delightful." Fae didn't say anything. "She's back in the compartment, is she? Well, while I return you, I'm sure you wouldn't mind showing her to me. Must be cautious, you know."  
  
Fae folded her arms. "She's changing into her robes. She sent us out here and then the train stopped, so we came to see what was happening."  
  
Snape didn't say anything, and looked at her long and hard. She looked back, and he finally nodded slowly. "I suggest that you get back to your quarters and wait outside then. I'll be out here, so don't even try sneaking back."  
  
"Sir." Fae nodded, and they started to walk back. Once they were in the next car, with the door shut behind them, Ron turned to Harry.  
  
"Are you all right, Harry?" he questioned. "You were grabbing your forehead again."  
  
The nearly black-haired boy nodded. "Yes, I'm alright. It's just.. my scar. It was bothering me again." Ginny looked up at him worriedly.  
  
"Doesn't that mean.You-Know-Who is near?" she questioned.  
  
Harry shook his head. "Nah, nothing to worry about, Ginny. Besides, I'm fine. It doesn't really hurt any more. It was probably just a headache."  
  
They reached the door of their compartment, and stopped before going inside. Fred turned to Fae, an inquisitive look  
  
"Where is Hermione?" he asked.  
  
She nodded with a sly grin on her face. "The girl jumped into the closet we were standing next to. She's hiding in there now, and I suppose that once Snape's gone, she's going to go have a look-see at what caused the train to stop."  
  
"Nice work, Herm," Ron congratulated to no one in particular, seemingly amazed by her act of intelligence.  
  
"Don't you think it's a little pathetic when a mudblood has to save your skins?" came Draco's voice. Nobody even bothered to turn around to see where the speaker was.  
  
"You just love the surprise entrance, don't you." Fae said to herself, flipping her hair irritably.  
  
Footsteps were heard behind them and Draco walked around to face them. In the darkness, he took out his wand and preformed the Lumos spell also. This revealed two other people standing behind him; neither of them looked exactly what you would call intelligent. Ginny backed up behind Harry. No matter where she was, Draco always had a way of making her feel uncomfortable, even when he wasn't addressing her.  
  
"How long were you standing there?" Harry demanded, staring daggers at the bleach-blonde. He stepped forward subconsciously and put an arm out over Ginny. She felt herself go red and hoped that everyone was paying attention to Draco.  
  
"Long enough Potter." He said, briefly looking over Harry like he was a bug. "And you're going to tell me what's going on."  
  
Fae looked excited for a minute. "Hey! Let's.." her face fell, "not and say we did." She started to walk past him. The others followed, but Draco grabbed her arm.  
  
"Ah, Fae. Didn't see you there."  
  
I was hoping we could keep it that way, she thought. Draco turned to the two not-so-smart-looking boys behind him.  
  
"This is who I was telling you about." He said, and they only nodded. He turned back to Fae, and she wriggled out of his grasp. "This is Crabbe. And this is Goyle." The two nodded in her direction, attempting to master the same smirk as Draco.  
  
"Charmed." Fae mumbled. She didn't even really know them, but she had the rather accurate idea that they had to be pretty lame to hang around with someone as conceited and inconsiderate as Mr Draco.  
  
More footsteps were heard behind them, heavier this time. It was Snape. He opened the door and stopped in his tracks. Ron sighed, knowing that this would most likely land them in some more trouble.  
  
Snape raised an eyebrow. "If I'm correct, I think that you said you were heading back to your corridors." He seemed to completely disregard the three Slytherins (his own house). "It's a shame to be doing this before the school year has even officially started, but," he paused. "Five points subtracted from the Gryffindor House."  
  
"But that's not fair! Malfoy's been-" Ron argued, but was cut off by Snape.  
  
"Ten points. I assume you wish to go no further?"  
  
Ron opened his mouth to argue again, but Harry stepped on his foot. The boy had become quite headstrong over the summer, so it seemed. The other Gryffindors were a little worried to see how many point deductions the year had in store.  
  
"See back to your compartments." He looked at the Slytherins. "You too."  
  
The Gryffindors looked at each other. How were they going to open the door if Hermione was supposedly in there? Snape was most likely going to wait and see if they weren't lying. And of course, Hermione was not in the room. They would be caught for sure!  
  
Ron reached for the handle..  
  
Suddenly, the door to the cart opened behind them and Hagrid's big bushy- hair-and-bearded head poked in. "Snape.we need yeh back out 'ere, Professor McGonagall needs ter speak ter yeh."  
  
The others held their breath, and Harry could feel Draco glaring holes in the back of his head. Snape finally sighed irritably, and with the swish of his cloak, turned around and strode past Hagrid coldly. The extremely tall man winked at Harry and he nodded back, an appreciative smile covering his face. Hagrid turned back around and retraced Snape's steps, shutting the door behind him.  
  
"Thank you, Hagrid.." Fred cooed and laughed, then turned around and ended up face to face with Crabbe. Or was it Goyle? He couldn't tell; they both looked like they lacked an extremely large amount of intelligence.  
  
Draco was looking at Harry with disgust. "Listen, Potter." He spat. "I'll catch you one day, and your friend Hagrid won't be there to save your tails. I have it on my personal to-do list to rid Hogwarts of people like you and your little mudblood friends."  
  
Harry shrugged coolly. "Well, have fun trying Malfoy, because I'll be here for a long, long."-his face inches from the other boy, he smiled-"long time."  
  
Draco glared and watched them go into their compartment. He huffed angrily, involuntarily blowing a stray strand of his hair out of his face.  
  
"Think whatever you like, Potter. I'll get you this year!" He called into the shut door, and received a lowering of the blind from the other side. He sighed, even more angrily this time, and stormed off to find the rest of the Slytherins. Crabbe and Goyle exchanged glances before Draco turned around and ordered them to follow him, and they obeyed.  
  
+ + +  
  
"It's been an hour. Where'd Hermione get to?" Ginny finally said, breaking the silence in the compartment.  
  
Harry sighed and leaned his head back. "I don't know. Did she say how long she was going to be?" he asked Fae.  
  
She shook her head. "She didn't really have time to.. Snape was walking through the door. I'm just glad I didn't ask any questions and figured it out a second later."  
  
They had all changed into their robes one at a time, which was a very slow process. The others had to wait out in the hall while one of them changed, and then came out, and the next person went in. They had a hard time keeping the twins from 'accidentally' opening the door on whoever was changing at the time. Harry was right; it had been nearly an hour, and the train still wasn't moving. They hadn't received any information, but while waiting out in the hall, realized that the lights had come back on, and found the blinds to all the windows sealed down by magic.  
  
"Whatever it is," Ron had said thoughtfully, "They obviously don't want us to see it."  
  
"Ooooh, can't NOTHIN' get past you, Ron!" Fred had exclaimed loudly afterwards, and George grabbed his younger brother in a headlock.  
  
But either way, they ended up sitting in a still non-moving train for an hour, and it was beginning to become quite hot. Fae shed her robes and dropped them by her side, then looked down at her school uniform.  
  
"I can't believe I have to wear a skirt," she mumbled, and again fooled with the blind on the window. It was still marked with magic and unable to open. She sighed, and wondered when they were going to be told what was going on.  
  
Suddenly, a voice came over the speakers in each compartment, causing them all to jump:  
  
"Attention students, attention students. This is Professor McGonagall. We have been experiencing some difficulties with the transportation, but all should be fixed within a matter of minutes. We apologize for the delay, and we should be arriving at Hogwarts within the next hour or so. Thank you." There was a click, and everyone exchanged glances, and then lunged at the window.  
  
The blinds still wouldn't rise. Fred sighed irritably and took out his wand. "I'm about bloody sick of this. Ginny didn't have time to stop him; he pointed the wand at the window and yelled, "Incendio!"  
  
A spark of fire shot out of the tip of his wand, and struck the blind. It immediately flapped up and revealed the hilly, dark surroundings.  
  
"Dumb-ass!" Ginny exclaimed, "We're not supposed to do that! You're going to get us into trouble." She tugged on her brother's arm. "I don't want any other points taken away from us already. We haven't even reached Hogwarts yet!"  
  
Harry suddenly let out a yelp, and clasped his hand over his scar again. Ginny's speech was immediately forgotten, and they all turned to the green- eyed boy. George was busy opening the window and looking around.  
  
"Again?" Ron asked, with looks of sympathy in his eyes. Harry could barely nod.  
  
"Holy cricket!" Fred suddenly bellowed. He was now hanging halfway out the window, and they had to grab his legs to keep him from falling out with shock. "Look outside!"  
  
They crowded around the window, and gasped. The tracks before them were completely broken off, and their pieces were hanging in the air to form the words Harry, Avada Kedavera.  
  
They gasped and Harry fell back into the car, landing hard and pressing both hands over his head. Ron turned around.  
  
"Harry!" he exclaimed, and kneeled by him. "Harry! What's wrong?"  
  
Fae stood over him. "It's his scar. Something about what we just saw set it off. What does that mean? Ava-"  
  
Fred cut her off, putting his hand over her mouth. Just for Harry to hear the words that killed his parents so many years ago, he knew, would definitely bring back some bad thoughts. She looked at him confusedly and he let her go.  
  
"It's one of the unforgivable curses. It's the killing curse." He said grimly, stealing a glance at Harry. "Whatever, or whoever, you cast it on..will die."  
  
Fae still looked confused. "But what does that have to do with Harry?"  
  
Ron was still kneeling by his side. "Don't they add up? Harry's scar only hurts him when You-Know-Who is near. And someone wrote the killing curse, with his name next to it." He looked down at the writhing boy and George shut the window. "Someone's trying to kill Harry."  
  
+ + +  
  
"Attention students. Thank you for your time and cooperation. The.. dilemma has been fixed early, and we'll be reaching Hogwarts within the next half hour. Please see to it that your robes are on, we will be arriving shortly. Thank you."  
  
Ron sighed. "It's about time." He said, and stretched out.  
  
Just then, the door swung open, and there stood Hermione. Fae jumped to her feet and ran to her, crushing her with a hug. "Hermione!" she exclaimed, squeezing her tightly. "What took you so long?"  
  
She was breathing heavily and had a crazed look in her eye. "I have been.. in that closet.. for two.. hours." She said, breathing heavily between her words.  
  
Fred and George laughed with amusement and she shot them a glaring look. She then saw Harry, still rubbing his scar.  
  
"You saw." She said, seating herself next to him, and he nodded. "I heard the professors talking.. they're very worried. They think that," she paused, "They think that You-Know-Who has found his way back to the school again."  
  
"Every bloody year!" The twins exclaimed at the same time.  
  
Hermione nodded. "Either that or one of his followers at least. Harry, just how bad is your scar hurting?"  
  
"Bad." He said. "I was looking out the window and it hit me so hard I fell on the floor."  
  
She bit her lip, and Ron met her eyes. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "Sounds like You-Know-Who." She finally said bleakly.  
  
Fae looked very lost. "I don't understand. What does V-I mean, You-Know- Who, have to do with Hogwarts?"  
  
Ron stared. "You're very sheltered, aren't you?" he exclaimed, before he could help himself. Fae stared daggers at him and Hermione gave him a let- me-handle-this look. He raised his hands in defense and sunk back into his seat. Hermione turned to Fae.  
  
Fae's gray eyes went wide. "But why would he want to do a think like that?"  
  
Hermione lowered her voice to a whisper again. "Well, because Harry's the boy who lived." She received another blank stare.  
  
"As opposed to..? What, the boy who die-"  
  
She received a hand planted firmly over her mouth. "Shhh! Fae! You.. do know about what happened with Harry when he was a baby, don't you?" More staring.  
  
"Good God, you really ARE sheltered!" George exclaimed; he had been eavesdropping.  
  
"George!" everyone shouted, and Fred punched him in the arm. Hermione rolled her eyes and leaned in to explain what had happened to the boy with the emerald eyes.  
  
+ + +  
  
When she had finished her story, Fae was wide-eyed. She looked over at Harry. He was now asleep, and he looked like he was having some kind of disturbing dream. Hermione nodded.  
  
"Yes.but best you don't bring it up to him. And just treat him like you would any other boy. He gets a little self-conscious when everyone stares at his scar."  
  
Fae nodded vigorously. "Aye, sure thing." She said, and cast another glance at him.  
  
+ + +  
  
The door swung open, revealing a very excited-looking Neville Longbottom.  
  
"Neville!" the male half (minus Harry) of the group exclaimed. He was showered with questions of how his summer was, and how he was doing, etc. However, they were all ignored.  
  
"We're here!" he said, and ran off to tell as many people as possible. 


	3. Pumpkin Juice and Lovebirds

Chapter Three: Pumpkin Juice and Lovebirds  
  
"They'd better hurry up.I'm starving." Ron proclaimed as they sat impatiently at the tables in the Great Hall. Not only did they have to sit through the sorting of the first years, but all the other newly accepted witches and wizards also. It seemed to drag on forever, and even the professors shifted uncomfortably in their seats as the sorting went on. "Look, it's Fae's turn!" Hermione whispered. Ron rolled his eyes as everyone else watched intently. Fae sat down on the stool and winced as the hat was placed on her head. "Hmmmm!" it said loudly, and she jumped in her seat. Giggles echoed throughout the Great Hall and she flashed a smile at Hermione. "Hmmm." the hat went on. "This is a tough one. A good mind.plenty brave.struggles to stand out in the crowd. You don't want to be like everyone else." Fae felt her face go red. Why did it feel the need to tell her personal life story to the entire school? Finally, after the hat rambling more and her turning a darker shade of red, it sighed. "Tough debate.but I'll have to go with."-she held her breath-"Gryffindor!" The table applauded and Professor McGonagall took the hat off of her head. She turned around, looked confused for a minute, and then bolted over to sit between Hermione and Seamus Finnegan. "I was so scared!" she giggled, turning to Hermione. "I could hear him saying 'Slytherin' in my mind, but he finally settled with Gryffindor." Hermione brushed her hair behind her ear nervously. Apparently Fae didn't know that all the baddies went into Slytherin. Across the room, Draco's jaw was dropping at the fact that she was to be a Gryffindor all along. "Oh, joy and rapture!" Ron said to himself sarcastically. George gave him a weird look, as the younger boy rested his cheek on his fist with annoyance.  
  
There were just a few more students to be sorted. They called up "Violete Lane", and a girl with black hair just past her shoulders walked up to the stool. She seemed to be in a trance; she had no real movement when she walked other than her legs, and she seemed to have a dark cloud over her head. "Oh, that's Violete! She's while class. I met her while we were waiting to be sorted." Ron snorted. "How ironic; two scary girls hanging out together." He said to no one in particular. Thankfully, he was on the opposite side of the table from her, and a few people away. He had been making comments like that for a while now, and if she had heard, it would have most definitely hurt her. The sorting hat was put over her head, and she sat there with a blank expression. "My, my, my." The hat said, and she didn't even flinch. Ron was beginning to wonder if Fae had done all the talking and this girl hadn't even opened her mouth once. The sorting hat suddenly clammed up, and for a long time there was silence. "Hufflepuff." it finally said. The table erupted in applause and the girl floated off to the table, a small smile on her face. "So she does have emotions!" Ron exclaimed in mock-surprise. Another girl went up, this one was more bouncy with curly blonde hair. Fae smiled and nodded her head, lip-syncing her name along with McGonagall. "Tracy Hill." They both said. Fae turned to Hermione. "I met her too. She's from America. Her parents had her transferred here; they're while rich and thought this would be a better school for her to attend." She chimed happily, then bounced back around in her seat to watch as Tracy was sorted into Hufflepuff. As she walked past the Gryffindor table, Fae caught her eye and they both waved vigorously. "Aren't we just little Miss popular?" Ron sneered behind her back. Harry hit him in the arm. "Ron!" he shouted. "What's gotten into you?" The redhead opened his mouth for a moment, and then shrugged. "I dunno, Harry. I just haven't really taken a liking to Fae." He saw the look on Harry's face and added a "yet." The boy with the scar raised an eyebrow. "Meeting one girl has completely turned you into a smartass." He said skeptically. "Well look at her!" Ron said in defense. "She's not exactly the most un- sarcastic person you've ever met now, is she?" Harry sighed. "She's only like that toward Draco." He shot back. Ron squinted. "See? Look! She's molding your mind! She's trying to turn you on me! I'll bet she's a vampire from the underworld and she bit you! And now you're slowly turning into one of her followers from the legion of the undead! Quick, Harry! Let me see your neck!" he reached across the table to grab him by the throat, but Harry evaded his grasp. "RON!" He bellowed, silencing the over-exaggerating Weasley. He sighed and folded his arms. "Fine! But when you find you've got two little bite marks on you, and you don't know how they got there, don't come crying to me!" he said, and Harry rolled his eyes and shook his head.  
  
Fae ate. And ate, and ate, and ate. The twins stared with their jaws dropped; she ate almost more than they did. How could someone as tiny and petite as her fit all of that food in her stomach? She stopped eating and looked at them, and realized why they were staring at her. "What. Think a girl can't eat?" she stuck out her tongue. "Can you drink?" Fred retorted jokingly. Suddenly, a look of excitement crossed her face. She looked down at the goblets before her, and found smaller glasses, most likely used for water to wash down the pumpkin juice. She lifted hers up, and smiled evilly at them. They caught on right away.  
  
"Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!" George, Harry, Seamus, and a few other Gryffindors chanted, while pounding their fists on the table. Fae and Fred were drinking shots of pumpkin juice, although since the glasses were a little bigger than regular shot glasses, it took longer to drink. So they just turned it into a sort of a race to see who could finish first. Fred slammed his down and thrust his fists into the air-his black wizard's uniform hat fell off in the process-and the "audience" applauded him, laughing rather loudly. He had the orange colored liquid dripping all over his face and his robes. When Fae saw this, she spit out her pumpkin juice (once again all over Fred) and started laughing until her sides were sore. Ginny had a look of shock on her face, and Hermione was rolling her eyes and shaking her head, muttering something about 'immaturity'. "I want a re-match!" Fae exclaimed. They poured more pumpkin juice, and just as they were about to start the contest again, they were told to report back to their common rooms. As they stood up to follow the other Gryffindors, Fae nodded at Fred. "I'll get you tomorrow." She threatened. "And your little dog too!" he cackled, taking a big leap and landing next to her. He draped his arm around her shoulders, and George soon wound up on her other side, their arms draped over her shoulders, and hers around their waists.  
  
The three caught up with Harry, Ron and Hermione, and they all made their way up to the common room. The first years were already in there, looking around in awe. Fae's reaction wasn't much different. They were separated into their dorms for the night, and given their schedules. Fae gave the twins a crushing hug and then skipped off to her dormitory. She seemed to be in a pretty good mood. Neville was standing next to Harry, and he scratched the back of his neck. "She's quite.flirty, I suppose that's the word." Harry shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, I guess you could say that."  
  
"Hello, Herm!" Fae bounded into the fifth year girls' corridor. Hermione was sitting on her bed, looking over her schedule. She glanced up at Fae and smiled. "Hey. I've been looking through the schedule. We have Hagrid's class with the Slytherins.again." She added on a dull note. Fae sighed irritably, reaching her own bed, which was kitty-corner from hers. Hermione stretched. "I don't suppose Draco will be stalking you any more though; as soon as he realizes you're a Gryffindor, he'll probably give up." Fae snapped her fingers. "Oh, DARN!" she said, and Hermione giggled.  
  
Back in the boys' room, Harry was thinking about the sign he had seen in the tracks. He wanted more than anything to not have someone to come after him every school year trying to kill him. Although he did have to admit, it was a lot more entertaining that way. But it was just becoming a little old, and his life being in danger wasn't the most uplifting thing to experience. Fred and George were going on about how "wicked" Fae was, and Ron looked like he was about to throw up. "I don't get what's so great about her." He mumbled, not intending to be heard. George looked like he was about to go into shock. "Eh! How can you not?" "She's short." Ron said stubbornly. "And attractive." Fred shot back. George continued for him. "And she plays the drums, and even Hermione's said she's really good. How many girls do you know who own a drum set and can actually play it, let alone used to be in a band?" Ron paused. "She's short." He said again, and the twins rolled their eyes. Ron kept going. "You do realize that if she does actually like one of you back, she'll only be able to go with one of you. One's going to be left out." Fred nodded. "See, we already have that planned out. Since we're identical, if she goes with one of us, the other could switch places every now and then, so it would be like we're both going with her! She won't be able to tell." Harry twisted his face. "You realize that she'll probably be able to tell the two of you apart in time, right?" he said. He didn't exactly like the idea of them doing that to Fae, although they were most likely joking. They exchanged glances and shrugged. The first years were returning to their dormitories, and the entire house decided it would be best to get some sleep; they had classes the next day.  
  
Fae awoke to the girls all getting ready. She looked at the clock. "Seven in the freaking-A morning." She mumbled, and rolled over, burying her face in her pillow. "Wake up, sunshine." Hermione said, sitting next to her. "Ginny's already gone to the Great Hall with some other fourth years. We have breakfast." She sat up straight. "Food!" she exclaimed. Hermione had never seen anyone get ready faster than Fae that first morning. Soon she was in her school uniform, which she had added safety pins and patches advertising strange musical groups Hermione had never heard of. She was also wearing blue plaid socks with her converse. She looked like she had stepped out of something from the 80s in America. Hermione shook her head and laughed. "You're so weird." She decided, and Fae smiled proudly at her compliment. They walked to breakfast-Fae was actually dragging her behind, more than walking-and found that the others weren't there yet. They sat down and Fae wolfed her breakfast as Hermione nibbled on some toast, and headed off to the library. "Sure you won't come?" she questioned, and Fae nodded. "Hermione. I'm going to be around books all year. Why would I want to go somewhere where I'm surrounded by them?" she said. Hermione giggled and shook her head. "Really, you three. Always against reading." she said, referring to she, Ron and Harry. They exchanged goodbyes and she headed off to the library. Ron, Harry and the Twins showed up, just as Fae was about to leave. As soon as Harry saw her, his scar started aching again. He grabbed his forehead. "Ah!" he exclaimed, and his accompaniments turned to him, and Ron's accusation-tunnel-vision landed on Fae. "Harry, is it your scar?" Fred asked, and he nodded. Amidst all the pounding in his head, he managed to turn away. It went away as soon as his back was turned and she was out of his sight. Could it be? No, he decided mentally. He had been around Fae plenty of times before and it hadn't bothered him at all. He took a deep breath and turned around to face her, and it didn't hurt. Perhaps it wore off or something. They made their way over to Fae, who greeted them cheerfully. She suddenly Tracy from across the room and waved vigorously. "Tracy!" she called. The blonde saw her and skipped over cheerfully. Harry took notice to the redness in Ron's cheeks suddenly increasing as she drew nearer. The curly blonde-haired girl was still in her pajamas, surprisingly. She wore a low-cut shirt that Ron had to keep reminding himself to NOT glance down upon. But she was shorter than him, and he did have the advantage. Tracy flashed him a smile-his cheeks reddened even more-and turned to the girl. "Hi Fae! Isn't this place amazing? It's so much better than Eizenhardt!" she had a strange accent. Ron guessed from one of the southern states. Probably because she said "hi" like "ha". Either way, he thought it was cute and sweet. Harry squinted. "Eizenhardt?" he repeated. Tracy smiled. "Oh, that's the school I came from in America." She said. "It was so much smaller and the Professors were horrible." "So you're from America!" Ron exclaimed nervously, stating the obvious. Tracy giggled flirtingly and nodded a yes. She twirled a lock of her hair around her finger and bit her tongue, letting it barely stick out between her candy pink lips. Fae and the twins exchanged glances, and Ron and Tracy continued talking. "Well! We're going to go eat, Ron. You coming?" George suddenly proclaimed. He received no answer. They exchanged glances again. "Ok, guess not." "Seeing as to how my company's a little busy, I'll just follow you guys." Fae mumbled, and sat down next to the twins. They all glanced over at Ron and Tracy, and saw that they had disappeared. Fred did a double take and stabbed his pancake with his fork. "Maybe they went their separate ways." He said and tried to be optimistic. Harry looked up just in time to see the two walk out into the hall together. "Nope." He said, raising his eyebrows and sighing. "Oh well, I suppose it's good that he found someone he likes." Fae's ears seemed to perk up. "You think he does?" "Obviously." Fred retorted, still stabbing his pancake. "Did you see his cheeks turn red? He looked like someone put makeup all over his face." The corner of Fae's mouth twitched and she shrugged. "Meh." she said, and rested her head in her hands. For a while there was silence. "Oh come on, we'll be fine without him." She finally said, slinging her arm around George. He gave the best attempt at a smile as he could, and she sighed with defeat. She knew it wasn't the same having a girl around as one of your brothers, let alone one you barely knew. "Sorry Fae." Harry said. "It wouldn't really bother us if he wouldn't have just left instead of telling us he was going somewhere." She nodded, and checked her watch. "Bleh. It's almost time for our first classes. Greeeaaat." she turned to them. "Hermione's probably got her nose stuck in a book, oblivious to the clock. I should probably go get her. Think you can handle it by yourself?" she joked, and they actually cracked a smile. "I dunno, it's kind of tough. But I think we can manage." Fred replied. Fae giggled and then left. She eventually reached the hall just before the entrance to the Library doors and saw Tracy ahead of her. She started to run up the small staircase, and called out to her. "Hey Tra." she trailed off when she noticed Ron was with her. ".cy." She finished, and brushed her hair behind her ear. She was leaned up against the wall and he was quite close to her. They were both laughing and carrying on, and completely oblivious to her echoing footsteps. She walked right past them, looking at them out of the corner of her eye. Ron seemed to tense up, noting her presence, but didn't turn or look at her. Tracy made eye contact with her and winked excitedly; apparently she fancied Ron. She smiled back and entered the vast Library. She walked around for a while, searching for Hermione, when she bumped into Violete. She seemed to be running into quite a few people that morning. "Hey Fae." She greeted, smiling warmly. Fae twitched at the corner of her mouth; her attempt at a smile. "Hey." She replied. Violete looked concerned. "Everything okay with you?" "Huh? Oh! Yeah I'm okay. Just really, really tired." She replied. It wasn't a complete and total lie; she hadn't gotten much sleep last night. "Oh, hey, have you seen Hermione?" she suddenly remembered why she had gone to the Library in the first place. Violete looked confused, "Who?" "Hermione. You know, she has bushy brown hair, usually carrying around some really heavy books. She's in the Gryffindor house." "Ah." Violete nodded. "Yeah she's over behind those bookshelves. I wondered why she was reading already but I didn't ask." She giggled, and Fae smiled back. "Alright. Thanks! I'll see you later then." She said, and trotted off to get Hermione. She found her with, of course, her nose buried in a book. She was rapidly taking notes as if her life depended upon it. Fae snuck up behind her ever so quietly, and then at length grabbed onto her shoulders. Hermione gasped and jumped, but when she saw who it was, smiled. "Fae! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" She looked thoughtful for a minute. "Well, now that you mention it." she said teasingly, and pulled out a chair beside her. "Whatchya doin?" she asked, sounding much like a child. "Just taking some last minute notes for Potions. I hear he's going to give us an entrance exam." She said, writing as she spoke. Fae's jaw dropped. "Please tell me you're kidding. I swear, that man is evil." She said, and Hermione shut her book and gathered her papers. She stood and shoved them all in her Potions book. "Don't let him hear you say that. You just might flatter him." She said, and Fae laughed. They walked out of the Library together, heading toward their dormitories for the remainder of time before first class.  
  
Their first period was, ironically, Potions. And as if they didn't have enough irony already, they had it with the Hufflepuffs: Tracy's class. She and Ron had walked in and promptly seated themselves together. They were chatting and giggling as Snape stormed in, his usual bad mood making the entire class seem more chilled than usual. Hermione and Fae sat together behind the twins, and in front of Harry and Neville. The entire class was spent with Snape telling them how painful their deaths would be if they messed around and didn't obey his rules. Hermione and Fae exchanged glances at the end of his speech. Then, at the last few seconds of class, he instructed them to read several pages in their book and write an essay. Fae opened her mouth to complain, but Hermione stepped on her foot, silencing her. She had decided the only real good thing about that class was that it was her only one with Violete; she had someone with the same interests to talk to. Although she could only do so when Snape wasn't in the room, she still got to speak with her quite a bit, and they worked out when they were to study for that class. Harry, the twins, and Ron hadn't spoken to each other all class. It mainly consisted of Ron and Tracy giggling and talking non stop, with the twins glaring holes in the back of his head. Fae wasn't in a very good mood because of the paper they had assigned on her first day of school (which she had hoped to be enjoyable). And then to add on Tracy's somewhat annoying giggle and her ignoring Fae didn't really help much. In fact, it basically just made things a whole lost worse. Snape silenced them after the third warning, threatening to take away house points. They finally noticed the warning glares from their houses, and shut up. And thankfully, no points were lost that day.  
  
The class finally ended, and they left for their second class: Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid. As they walked across the extremely vast campus, they passed by Draco and his "followers". Fae sped up as she passed by them, but they obviously saw her. "Fae, why do you surround yourself with these mudbloods?" he called out, and she froze, and then whirled around to face him. "Why don't you?" she said, hoping that would somehow end their conversation. He scoffed. "Ha! When pigs fly!" he said, and the girl (later learned to be Pansy) laughed as if it were the best joke she had ever heard. Yet Draco still managed to look annoyed. Fae sighed. "Well, that obviously won't be happening soon, seeing as to how all of you haven't grown your wings yet." She shot back, and turned on her heel. Hermione looked surprised, but then followed after. Seeing as to how she was smart, she caught the insult right away. After a few seconds, Pansy scoffed. "That bitch just called us pigs!" she exclaimed. Draco rolled his eyes and put a mock-surprised look on his face. "No!" he said sarcastically, and trudged off ahead of them.  
  
During the next week or so of school, Harry's scar had been bothering him through his entire second class, but thankfully, it got better as Hagrid's went on. As much as he hated to admit, he wasn't hanging around Fae as much as he had been before the incident yesterday. He thought himself silly, but he was desperate enough; the pain was excruciating now, even worse than before. He and Ron had decided to share a desk, and they were talking now. At least it wasn't like he was ignoring him completely or anything. Still, there was certain weirdness about their conversation, when they did decide to speak to each other. Hagrid cleared his throat. "Alright then. Professor Dumbledore told me ter get you guys ter measure yer wands again, seeing as ter there bein' new students n all. Will all the Slytherins please come up 'ere? Everyone else write down what you want ter do this year in Care of Magical Creatures." Fae was writing obediently as Draco passed her desk. She felt his gaze on her and started writing faster and more violently, and snapped her quill point. Hermione turned to her as he walked away. "Quill?" she said, handing her a fresh one, and she took it gratefully. A few seconds later, Draco walked by again. Fae started writing faster with irritation, and when he stopped and stood behind her she snapped her quill for the second time. "Not again." she mumbled, sighing. She realized Draco was still standing behind her, and felt her face grow hot. Why was he so annoying? Hagrid was still measuring Slytherins' wands, so she had no real excuse to get up. He pulled up a seat and sat down next to her and her whole body tensed up. She felt everyone's eyes on her, although she didn't blame them for staring. A Slytherin was trying to talk to a Gryffindor? And Draco Malfoy, of all people to be talking to a 'mudblood.' "Fae." He said, trying to get her attention. She quickly turned around to him, her face almost the color of the twins' hair. "What." She said rather sharply. He got that smirk on his face and leaned in closer. She stared at him for a few seconds, and he finally sneered. "I'm twelve inches." Fae was silent for a while, with a confused look on her face. Then, finally: "Aww, GROSS!" She stood up and stormed off across the room to the twins' desk, as Hermione sighed. Half the class-or the ones who had heard any way- was laughing, and Draco looked at Fae, still smirking. "What!" he exclaimed, cackling to himself. Fae knew that he was talking about his wand, or at least she hoped. He was just harassing her now, just to harass her. He probably didn't have any interest in her now, because she was sorted into Gryffindor. Either way, his perverted side wasn't exactly pleasant. The twins were laughing at her, and she sarcastically thanked them for their support. Hagrid called the Gryffindors up, finally, and she had her wand measured. "Ello, Fae!" he said. "Harry's told me lots about ya. Now lets get this thing here measured." He took out a long measuring tape and fumbled around with it for a bit. With some trouble, he managed to get her wand measured and nodded. "That's a nice one ya got there, Fae. Take good care of it now." She smiled and nodded, then headed back to her empty seat. Draco was back at his own desk with Crabbe and Goyle. The two brain dead ones were shooting spitballs at nearby Gryffindors, and she was thankful that a large plant was sitting between her desk and theirs. She could barely see them through the leaves. Pansy was all over Draco, and now she was trying to give him a shoulder- rub. He looked angered, but at the same time relaxed. Fae sighed and shook her head, then turned back to her desk. She started to write and noticed a folded up piece of paper. Opening it, it was written in cursive that looked like a young boy's. She immediately recognized it as Harry's and began to read:  
  
Fae, something's come up. We need to talk. Meet me in Madame Hooch's classroom after lunch. It should be unused at that time. This is important! Don't make eye contact with me; I can't let anyone see that we're talking. I'll explain later. If you're going to show, just keep this with you, if not, rip it up and throw it away. I'm watching.  
  
She re read the note, not daring to look up at Harry. Whatever it was, it was obviously important, and he didn't want everyone to know about. She wondered if she would be the only one there, or if everyone was going. Only one way to find out; she folded the note and put it in her pocket. She felt his eyes on her. Good, she thought, he saw me. 


	4. Arachnophobia

Chapter Four: Arachnophobia  
  
All through their Transfiguration class, Fae was growing impatient for lunchtime. She had to fight to not glance up at Harry, and let it slip a few times, but he wasn't even looking at her. Apparently he had a lot more self-control than she did. She was sitting in front of George, who seemed to notice her fidgeting. He leaned up and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Fae, you're squirming like a bloody worm. What bothers?" he said. She rolled her eyes. "This class sucks." She lied. Obviously, Harry didn't want her to go telling people about their little 'meeting', so she thought it best to keep things secret. "Ah. I see." he said, and lifted his chin up to run his fingers over it in thought. Fae giggled and playfully smacked his head. "Miss O'Connor." Professor McGonagall said sternly, and Fae froze. "Perhaps you can tell me the answer to question number four." She bit her lip and looked around the class. She had been reading along with the class as they were instructed, but George had distracted her and she had no idea where they were now. She cleared her throat and tried to take a guess. "...False.?" She said, and a few giggles were echoed through the classroom. McGonagall stuck her nose in the air. "Perhaps if you were paying attention, you would know the answer. I assume you know your way to the detention hall?" Fae's jaw dropped. "Are you serious?" "Do I look like I'm kidding? Now, please pick up your things and escort yourself out the door." She said, and Fae sighed irritably. She mumbled something about 'injustice' and 'prejudging teachers'. As she was shoving her things into her black messenger bag complete with skull and pins, the class was dead silent, until the teacher spoke again. "Now." She said. "Miss Brown, I suppose you can tell us the answer?" she said, turning to a girl named Lavender. She smiled cheerily, and looked down at her book. "Transfiguration is a marked change in form or appearance; a metamorphosis." As Fae was leaving, she gave professor McGonagall the finger over her shoulder, and grabbed George's arm. "Promise you'll get me out before lunch." She said through gritted teeth. He laughed and nodded, and she patted his head. "Good boy." "Miss O'Connor!" "I'm going, I'm going." she said, and left the room, shutting the door behind her.  
  
The Detention Room was very, very boring indeed. She had received a lecture from whoever was holding detention-she had forgotten his name-on how important it was to stay a good student in school, and it was horrible that she had received detention on the first few weeks. Eventually it wound up in how she could possibly end up in Azkaban. She had her head down on her desk now, in the empty room, listening to his off-key singing. She was thankful that McGonagall had forgotten to assign her a detention task, and whoever this guy was, was too caught up in his reading of the paper to notice. She looked up at the clock on the wall. It had only been fifteen minutes. Only fifteen minutes? She groaned loudly and banged her head on the desk. Finally, it was time for lunch. She looked up excitedly at the teacher and waited for him to tell her she could leave. A few minutes passed and she cleared her throat. Finally, she asked. "Can I go now?" He lowered his newspaper with a raised eyebrow. "Listen, I don't appreciate your attitude. I think you need to stay in here for lunch today." "But you can't-" He lowered the newspaper again. "Oh, you'd be surprised at what I can do, miss." He said, and then continued reading. She made a loud aggravated noise, and banged her head on the desk a few times. She really didn't care if it bruised right then, as she turned her head to watch the clock and wallow in self-pity. "Pssst!" At first she thought she was imagining it, but then she heard a harsh whispering again. "Pssst! Fae!" She lifted her head inquisitively and saw none other than the twins standing in the doorway. Her jaw dropped and she stole another glance at the teacher, who was still engrossed in his newspaper. "What are you doing here?" she whispered back. "I was only joking!" "Nonsense. Come on." Fred motioned for her to go to the door, and she gave him an are-you-crazy look. "Just come on! It's okay." Fae slowly sat up in her seat, and paused. She didn't hear any stopping in his singing-more like squalling-and slowly crept towards the door. Suddenly, the newspaper went down in a flash, banging the desk and causing them all to jump. She whirled around and saw that he suddenly looked like he was some rabid animal. No wonder they made him the teacher for the 'problem kids'; he could definitely keep them in line. "What are you doing?" he bellowed. She stared for a second, and then started stretching. "Just.getting some exercise. You wouldn't want me to fall asleep in your class, would you?" He jerked his head in the direction of the door. "Then why are they standing there?" George took a giant leap in, and pointed his wand. "Obliviate!" he exclaimed, and blue sparks and stars shot out of his wand. The teacher suddenly stopped talking and stood stiff. He slowly sat back down in his seat, not blinking. He had a dazed look on his face. Fred stepped forward. "It's a simple spell, really." He said, as George put his wand away. She looked at him, aghast being an understatement. "Do you know how much trouble you're going to get into?" she exclaimed, her eyes as wide as Quaffles. George waved his hand dismissingly. "Nah, it causes people to forget things; if they ask him what happened, he'd have no idea. You're good to go." He bowed dramatically and pointed his hands at the door. A huge smile crept across her face, and she grabbed them both in another crushing hug. "My knights in shining armor. I think I'm madly in love with you." She said, giving them each a peck on the cheek. Fred and George had most likely gotten over any intent to want to be with her by then, and just found her attractive and fun to be around. Besides, they were like brother(s) and sister. It would be too weird for them to become anything more, and they all knew it and abided by it without complaint. They all linked arms with Fae in the middle; heaven forbid two guys have any physical contact. Can't be looking even relatively to a Puff, now. She looked over her shoulder and saw the detention monitor just sitting there staring a hold into his newspaper, as if nothing had happened. They skipped- literally, the dorks-down the hall and finally stopped at the moving staircases. "Where did you learn a spell like that?" she exclaimed. The twins exchanged glances. "We are seventh years, you know." George said. "I suppose you're right." She said, and sighed. "I'm so behind, and I have to take extra exams and everything. probably even summer school if I don't pass them all. I'll bet missing McGonagall's class murdered me." Fred shrugged. "Basically." He said with a grin, and Fae punched his shoulder.  
  
They reached the Great Hall and Fae took in a big breath of air. "Oh, how I love elf cooking." She said excitedly, and shot off to seat herself next to Hermione. Fae gobbled her food down faster than usual that day, and earned some staring from the others at the table. A few snotty girls stared in disgust and when she looked up at them, they stuck their noses in the air. She returned this with the raising of one finger in particular, and kept eating like a starved animal. She saw Harry get up and leave, watching her as he left the room. This caused her to eat a lot faster, shoveling the food in. Hermione finally grabbed her arm. "Fae." She said, and the Irish girl turned around to face her with food on her mouth, and some on her face. "I don't think your food's going to get up and walk away. Slow down, you're going to choke yourself." She swallowed and wiped her mouth. "Aye, but I need to.see Professor McGonagall about what I missed in class." "Oh, well you can just get it from me-" "No!" Fae exclaimed, and then blushed and cleared her throat. "Erm. no, that's okay Hermione. Thanks though. Later!" she called out and trotted out of the Great Hall. Hermione looked at Ron, who shook his head and continued to eat.  
  
Fae hurried through the corridors, stopping to ask directions twice, and managing to get her self lost more than once. Hogwarts was such an insanely huge school! Finally, she rounded the corner to the hall containing Madame Hooch's room. No wonder he had picked this class; she taught mostly to the first years outside on their broomsticks. She most likely wouldn't be in there very much that day, let alone during the entire school's lunchtime. She caught a glance of someone heading into the classroom, and smiled to herself. Harry, she thought, and walked faster.  
  
Back in the Great Hall, Harry returned to the table, and seated himself across from Hermione. "Where'd you go off to?" she asked, while properly cutting her steak. She, unlike Fae, had table manners. "Bathroom." He replied. She nodded and continued eating. "Wonder where the Irish one went." He said, and Ron for some reason cracked up at the fact that she was Irish. It was probably because he called her 'crazy drunken Irish woman' behind her back.  
  
Fae walked into the classroom and shut the door behind her. It was mostly dark except for a few windows with their blinds up, casting their beams of light on the floor. When she turned around, she saw Draco Malfoy leaning against the teacher's desk. He smirked when he saw her come in, but didn't move otherwise. She paused. "Uh.wrong room." She finally said, and opened the door. "No, you have the right room." He said, standing up and walking to her with his hands in his pockets. She turned around and blinked. "You wrote the note." She accused, and folded her arms. "You wrote it and said you were Harry to try and get me here." Draco shook his head. "No, I believe you did that on your own." He told her. "I never signed it. Because if anyone was reading it over your shoulder, they would have asked me about it, or asked you, and nothing but a bloody mess would have come of it." "Point taken." Fae said, scratching the back of her neck. "So why did you want me up here?" He folded his arms also, looking confident. "To tell you that you're in the wrong house." Fae sighed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up!" She said. He looked taken aback and she went on. "How do you think you can tell me that and get me to believe it?" "Why else would I be talking to a Gryffindor." He stated, rather than asked. "Because you enjoy harassing me," She shot back. He laughed quietly, and then shook his head. "No, as much as I do enjoy doing that, I can't say it's the only reason. I feel something when you're around: something that should have gotten you into Slytherin instead. And you don't need to be around those mudbloods. "If you hang around someone like me, I can show you true power. There's something that menaces deep inside your soul. It's calling out for darkness. Calling out for something you want, something you need, whether you know right now or not. You have a dark side in you, Fae. And I can show you how to use it," He stuck out his hand, waiting for her to shake it. Fae felt offended that he could talk so easily about his friends that way. But at the same time, something about his words were empowering. Maybe it was that he was being so damn poetic, which she was very intrigued by. She looked at his hand, then back into his crystal eyes. Such a pretty shade of blue. She slowly put out her hand to shake it, but then blinked and quickly brought it up to the back of her neck. All she could do was shake her head and barely look up at him. Something changed in his eyes. It looked like disappointment with the slightest twinge of anger. "That's a mistake, Fae." He said, meeting her eyes again. "You're going to need me eventually, when you get tired of the mudbloods. You know it." She backed away from him. "I doubt that will happen, but until then I don't need you." She said, and stepped out of the classroom. "It's only a matter of time." Draco said to himself, and smirked.  
  
The next few weeks of school were pretty uneventful for Fae. All she really did was stay up late and study for the extra work she had to do. She had some days where she looked like a zombie walking in to class. Thankfully, on those days, she almost thought Draco to have a heart. Or at least something in the place of where a heart should be, that on sporadic days offered sympathy, and those 'sporadic' days just happened to be the ones in which she hated the world and herself. Either way, he wouldn't bother her when she seemed really stressed out, although he probably just didn't want to get told off. He had seen what she did when one of the Gryffindor boys gave her a pepper-flavored Bertie Bot's Jelly Bean and told her it was the 'best flavored one out of the lot.' It wasn't pretty; took him a week for his black eye to disappear. Of course, Fae was given another detention for this. Ron and Tracy were closer than ever, and Fae had barely said two words to either of them for some weeks now. She had heard rumor of them supposedly kissing in the hallway. Fae didn't really doubt it though; apparently they really did like each other. What's worse was that the others were slowly spending less time with her. Not so much the twins, but definitely Ron, Harry and Hermione. She had no idea why, either. It usually ended up in her just spending time with Violete when she could, which was only in their Potions class. And they all knew you can barely get a word said in there without receiving an 'ultimate evil death glare of doom' from Snape. So Fae's social life hadn't been much over the last few months. She suspected it was probably because of her sudden moodiness, and felt awful about everything. But the twins seemed to be putting up with it, so she couldn't have been that bad. But of course Ginny never really talked to her to begin with. It still seemed like she had some sort of a grudge against Fae, for reasons unknown. But surprisingly, the only thing on her mind right then was studying. So now we join her, in the Gryffindor common room. Of course, being studious, and doing her homework like a good little child. She sighed and dropped her pen for a minute, and glanced out the window. It was her lunch hour, and it was a beautiful day. As the year went on it had gotten much colder, and it was now the beginning of October. A day like this wasn't very common. She looked back down at her Potions essay. She was almost finished; all she had to do was talk about the mixture of certain potions and what their side effects could be. "I'm almost done. it can wait." She said to herself. "It's not even due for two more days." She stood and stretched as her spine cracked. It felt so good to be standing and not having he nose buried in a book. She put on her non- prescription "emo kid" glasses and looked in the mirror. "Yeck." She said, surprised by her own zombified appearance. She had dark circles under her eyes and she looked even paler (if that was possible). Also, her smeared black eyeliner from the constant rubbing of her tired eyes made it look as if she had been crying. Noting to herself to get more sleep at night, she headed out into the corridors. She had barely gotten down the hall when Ron and Tracy came staggering up the stairs, laughing themselves red. For reasons unknown, Fae darted into the shadows of a large doorway and waited, hiding from them. Ron finally stopped laughing long enough to get a few words out. ".I don't know why either, I think she just wants to be hardcore." He said. Tracy sighed, but still giggled. "Ron, that's so mean. What did she ever do to you?" she asked. The laughter died down to a small giggle here and there. "I don't know. I just don't really like her." He said. "I just met her, yes, but she's.I don't know." He finally decided. Fae gasped. They were talking about her. She quickly prayed that this wasn't a common thing; she really did think Ron was very funny, and would love to get to know him more if he would have given her the time of day. She heard them keep talking and listened in again, feeling awfully nosey, hurt, and inquisitive at the same time. Tracy giggled. "Well, you should try to get to know her. She's real nice. And funny." He looked down at her shyly. "Why would I want to get to know someone so wonderful when I already have someone like that?" he said softly. Fae wasn't sure if Tracy was intended to hear this or not, but she did. Tracy squealed like a pig. "That's so sweet!" she said, putting her arms around her neck. His face turned about the same color as his hair and nervously places his hands on her hips. "Oh, Ron." she said, and touched his nose with hers. "Oh, Rhett." Fae gagged from her hiding place, comparing Tracy to Scarlett O'Hara from the classic movie, 'Gone With the Wind'. The two of them paused for a moment, their lips almost touching. Fae froze. They had heard her! She smacked herself in the head a few times degradingly. "Did ya hear something?" Tracy's voice was heard. Ron slowly nodded. "Fae." He said, his voice faltering. He hoped that she hadn't heard their entire conversation, or that maybe it wasn't her. But who else would be so sarcastic and-Ron hated to almost compliment her- witty? Footsteps sounded, and Fae looked around nervously. She finally decided to go in the huge door she was hiding in front of; it was her best escape. She opened it with some difficulty, and then finally got inside and shut it behind her. Ron started to open the door, but Tracy put her hand out. "Just leave her alone. She probably heard everything." She said, barely above a whisper. As if Fae couldn't hear (Which she did). He wanted to protest, but as soon as he looked her in the eyes he forgot about everything. Instead he just smiled and nodded, then put his arm around her shoulders. Tracy smiled happily and they walked off together.  
  
Fae peered out of the keyhole in disgust. How could Ron be so freaking inconsiderate? What had she ever even done to him? They'd barely said two words since they had met, so what was wrong? She folded her arms across her chest as they disappeared around a corner. At least Tracy was sticking up for her. Kind of. She looked around the room, trying to figure out just where she was. It was very dark, so she couldn't really tell, but there were blue and white stained-glass windows. They let in very little light, and she couldn't see any other source that would maybe make it less dark; no torches, no fireplace, nothing. However, there was something rather large and rectangular against the back wall, but she really didn't want to stick around to find out what it was. She had the most awful feeling that she wasn't allowed to be there. Taking one last look out of the keyhole, she made sure the two were gone. They were nowhere in sight, so she put her hand on the door. As soon as her fingers touched the handle, she felt something crawl off, and gasped, clutching her hand to her chest. Please don't be.please don't be, her mind begged. She could barely see as a huge black spider lowered itself in front of her face. She let out a shrill scream and threw herself against the door, and it swung open. Fae spilled face down onto the floor, and flipped over on her back, just in time to see the huge arachnid trying to crawl out after her. Raising only her upper torso, she kicked the door with a terrified yelp, and it swung shut. Fae heaved a sigh of relief and allowed herself to collapse back onto the ground. She stared up at the ceiling, when she suddenly felt the presence of someone else. She slowly tilted her head back, revealing none other than Violete Lane. Fae blinked, and then smiled nervously. "Don't you hate spiders?" she finally said, breaking the long silence. She suddenly felt very, very inferior and somewhat embarrassed. Violete's expression unreadable, until she finally burst into fits of laughter. Fae hauled herself to her feet and turned to face the girl laughing like a hyena. Finally she quieted down. "May I ask what you were doing in there?" Fae scratched the back of her neck. "Hiding.." she said timidly. Violete raised an eyebrow. "From what?" She looked around for a bit, and finally met the much taller girls' eyes. She took in a deep breath, and eventually ended up spilling the whole story about what happened with Tracy and Ron, and her hiding in the room, up until Violete had found her. She nodded, looking confused. Fae's story told at rapid-speed had probably lost her somewhere close to the beginning, and she just gave her benefit of the doubt. "Right." She finally said. "Did you see anything?" The younger girl shook her head slowly. What was there to see, other than spiders and stained glass? "No.why? Do you know what's in there?"  
  
"Nah. Just always wondered. Guess it's not worth looking into, then." She said, and gave a small grin. She nodded at her, and voices and footsteps were heard. "Ah, time for class. I'm so excited." Violete said sarcastically, and Fae giggled. "I'll see you in second then." She said, and they started to go their separate ways, as other students began to fill the corridors. "Oh, Fae!" Violete suddenly called. She turned around and a male Slytherin pushed past her, muttering something about 'mudbloods needing to watch where they stand' under his breath. Fae flipped him off and turned back to Violete. "I've heard some bad stuff about that room...please don't go back in there. I'm worried about what's actually there that you didn't see." Fae raised an eyebrow, but soon the hall was flooded with students, and Violete was out of sight. She sighed and started to head to her Herbology class, completely forgetting her supplies in the Gryffindor common room. 


	5. Bottles

It was finally Quidditch season at Hogwarts, and not soon enough, thought Harry. He had been flying around every other day recently, especially in the mornings, to keep himself sane. Quidditch was the only thing that could uplift his spirits so easily. The thrill of flying, feeling the cold wind, numbing your face, the adrenaline rush of chasing after the Golden Snitch; it was all just pure bliss to him.  
  
The day of their final game came all to quickly for Harry; the season had gone by all too soon. Their opponents were the Slytherins, and he found himself to be nervous. Although it usually did happen between these two houses: no other competition in the school was as fierce. But for some reason, he felt extra-nervous on this game. He didn't even know what he had to worry about. He was the youngest seeker of the century, and, to put it bluntly, his house won every Quidditch Cup since he had been playing. As usual, this season had been in their favor, winning every game they played.  
  
Still, that tiny pinprick of nervousness. . .  
  
Ginny had, in fact, become a lot more relaxed around him. And even she herself was thankful that she still didn't look at him as an obsession any more. He was just Harry, just like any other normal boy. Well, except he had defeated the Dark Lord at the age of a few months, he was the youngest seeker Gryffindor had since his father, and he was pretty much the Hogwarts Hero. Shaking her head, she cleared her own rambling thoughts.  
  
Seeing the boy with the emerald eyes across the field, she felt that annoying knot in her stomach returning. He was probably heading toward where he would be meeting the other Gryffindor players. She had to be there soon, too; she had joined the Quidditch team earlier that year, and was found to be quite skillful. Which was surprising, especially to Harry, because of Ron's horrible experiences with brooms. She was a wonderful rider with much skill, and probably the second-most agile on the team, save Harry.  
  
"Harry!" she called. He didn't hear her, so she tried a second time. He finally turned around and she waved an arm, and even from that distance she could see a smile spread across his face. They jogged over to each other and she smiled, finding even more evidence that she wasn't afraid to be around him any more. She brushed a lock of her fiery red hair behind her ear. It was different than the other Weasleys'; the boys all had a more orange-blonde tint, but hers was almost a deep burgundy. It had gotten darker since Harry had first met her before she even enrolled at Hogwarts, and he never saw any lighter roots at the top of her head, so he assumed it was all natural. They reached each other, and walked side by side.  
  
"Ready to beat some Slytherin tail?" she smirked.  
  
"Always," He returned her look.  
  
+ + +  
  
Hermione, Fae and Violete sat up in the stands beside Ron. Violete, like Fae, had no house spirit whatsoever, and decided to join them on their side of the field so she'd have someone to talk to. Fred and George soon seated themselves next to Hermione, who nodded at their presence, but soon turned and did a double take. Weren't they supposed to be on the team?  
  
"Okay, why aren't you on the field?"  
  
Fred rolled his eyes. "Well. Apparently, mum was real mad about our re- creation of the Ton Tongue Toffees that took place over the summer. We were doing a real good job of hiding them and all, until we gave it to a random muggle."  
  
George had been listening to what his brother had said, and did a near- perfect imitation of his mother's facial expressions. "'You two dolts could have given our family's wizarding reputation away to a bunch of muggles! Rabble, rabble, rabble!'"  
  
Hermione was staring at them with a look of utter disapproval. She just rolled her eyes and turned back to the field, mumbling something inaudible. The twins offered each of the girls a jellybean. Fae glared as they remembered what had happened with the Pepper-flavored bean, and meekly coiled their hands back against their chests defensively. She stuck out her tongue playfully, and Violete smiled, shaking her head.  
  
The Irish girl had the displeasure of being squished next to Ron, of all people. They were constantly snapping at each other to get off the others foot, or quit bumping them around. Of course, none of this was their fault; there were even more students in each stand this year, so it was a very tight fit indeed. That, and the wind kept blowing Ron's Gryffindor scarf into her face. She had neglected to bring any type of flag or her scarf, although she had taken a pin to add to her collection housed on her messenger bag.  
  
The announcer shushed their bickering as they announced the Slytherin team. Applause and cheering from the opposite side of the stadium sounded. Fae took note of Draco running out ahead of the others on his team; Fae assumed that he was the captain. As the Gryffindor team ran onto the field with their brooms raised over their heads, the applause overpowered Slytherins by ten times the volume.  
  
Of all people, Tracy slid between Fae and Ron. "Hey!" she exclaimed, completely ignoring her supposed female friend next to her. He looked shocked for a minute, but then a smile covered his face. He slung his arm around her.  
  
"Where'd you come from?"  
  
She winked. "I snuck over. Told Pomfrey I needed to go to the hospital wing, that I was feeling quite faint," she dramatically pretended to faint into his arms, as they both laughed.  
  
Fae and Violete exchanged glances and gagged.  
  
"She might as well just have him on a damn leash." Violete muttered. She was with the Gryffindor side because she had no 'house spirit' for Hufflepuff whatsoever, so she just sat with Fae the entire time.  
  
Fred leaned on George. "Hold me!" he breathed, batting his eyelashes. The three girls exploded into laughter and the twins soon joined in, and Ron and Tracy gave them strange looks.  
  
Within a few minutes, the game had started. Even after every game she had been to, it was still unlike anything Fae had ever seen. She had grown up around soccer, being from Ireland, and wasn't used to such a rapid speed. She eventually figured out the concept of the game, as the Quaffle was thrown into the Slytherin goal.  
  
"Ginny Weasley scores! Ten points for Gryffindor!"  
  
Ron clapped and hooted loudly as a triumphant smile covered Ginny's face for a few seconds, before she turned right back to the game. Harry and Draco were facing each other on their brooms, circling around menacingly and shouting things at one another. But as soon as the game continued, they looked around for the golden Snitch like two vultures.  
  
Soon, the score was twenty-forty, in favor of Gryffindor. Fae took note that the Slytherins lived up to their rumors, and they were in fact notorious for playing dirty. They would do things that were just bordering 'against the rules', just enough so they could get away with it. Twice Ginny was almost thrown down from her broom, which sent Ron to yelling obscenities, although he was unheard by anyone other than Tracy, as she tried sweetly to soothe him.  
  
Suddenly, Harry shot off on his broom like a rocket. Draco was quick to follow, close behind and gaining speed.  
  
"They've seen the Snitch!" Hermione explained excitedly to Fae, without tearing her eyes away from the game. "If he catches this, we win!" Fae knew this, but Hermione was too excited to realize Fae had been to every game so far.  
  
Draco and Harry were racing around, taking wild turns and loops; Hermione almost covered her eyes once when they came within a hair of crashing into one of the stands. Ron was whispering encouraging words to Harry as the two chased the tiny winged ball around in a game of cat and mouse; or, cats and mouse, in this case.  
  
They disappeared under the stands, coming out from underneath seconds later, still in hot pursuit. Harry was holding lead, but Draco was getting faster. Suddenly, the Snitch took a ninety-degree flight upward from their low position on the ground. Harry, being the first to think, jerked his broom handle to the same degree and followed it right up. Draco was still close behind, but not as close as before.  
  
The Snitch steadied itself, and continued flying on sharp turns at their higher level. Harry didn't even have to look down to know that this was the highest that his chase had ever taken him; he was well over the stands, maybe twice their height. He still kept focused on the Snitch.  
  
Draco sped up, and they were now flying almost right beside each other. Harry's arm was reaching out further. . .further. . .  
  
He glanced over at the Gryffindor stands long enough just to catch a glimpse of his friends, particularly Fae, and his scar started burning again. He gasped, and almost dropped off his broom. The crowd gasped as the Snitch escaped from his grasp, but he was quick to steady himself.  
  
Below them, Ginny was scoring more goals herself. She had been responsible for most of them so far, and took the opportunity of the Slytherin goalie looking up at the two seekers in shock. She had awarded them another good thirty points. But it would all be for nothing if Draco caught the Snitch before Harry.  
  
Draco sped up, and they were now flying almost right beside each other. Sensing that this wasn't a normal height to be chasing after the tiny golden sphere, Harry flicked his eyes in his direction for the slightest moment. Their eyes met for a split second before Harry dropped straight down, still managing to fly ahead. He felt his stomach twist and turn and the adrenaline rush; it felt quite similar to the roller coaster he and Ron had ridden so many times the summer before. He stopped a good five or six yards under Malfoy, and the overly aggressive half of the crowd erupted into angry shouting; they had no idea why he had seemingly abandoned the Snitch.  
  
Only moments later, it suddenly plummeted back down, right in front of his broom. Draco let out a cry, thrusting his broom down after him in a mad attempt to stay behind the golden ball, but it was too late.  
  
"HARRY POTTER CATCHES THE SNITCH! GAME, GRIFFINDOR!"  
  
The stands erupted in applause, minus the Slytherins. Hermione, Violete and Fae jumped up and down, hugging and squealing like two little schoolgirls. The twins leaped up in glee, spilling their precious jellybeans all over the stands. Ron was shouting and cheering, but Tracy silenced him with a quick kiss and a hug, then turned and starting bouncing up and down.  
  
Fae would have said something about Tracy only being so excited to appeal to Ron, but she was jumping up and down and carrying on, herself.  
  
Madame Hooch walked out into the middle of the field as the players lowered their brooms, all except for Draco. He was hovering where he had been, cursing loudly. Harry got to his feet and she handed him the Quidditch Cup, then turned to shake Ginny's hand; she had played quite a game. The applause erupted even more, if it was possible. This meant at least a hundred points to Gryffindor, and put them in the lead for the House Cup again (Due to Fae's constant detentions, they had been put behind Ravenclaw.). The Gryffindor Quidditch team ran over, all cheering and hooting. They slapped hands and backs, exchanged hugs, and Harry was in his own bliss.  
  
Hermione looked around to make sure no professors were looking, and then raised her wand. She aimed at the field and muttered something as red and gold sparks flew out of its tip, forming Harry and Ginny's names.  
  
The seeker pointed it out to Ginny, who laughed and nodded happily. Tears were almost forming in her eyes as he handed her the Cup and bent down onto his knees. A second later he stood up, and she was on his shoulders waving the trophy around, soaking up all of Gryffindor's glory. Still, after they had gone back into their locker rooms, Harry couldn't forget that just glancing at Fae had nearly caused his loss against Malfoy.  
  
+ + +  
  
Since it was a Friday, eight Gryffindors headed down to Hogsmeade later that day. It was Fae's first time, and the twins were very excited to show her their joke shop. In all her victory, Ginny's thoughts about Fae had changed for the better, and they got along fine now. The only thing that bothered anyone was the fact that Tracy was there, but they were able to ignore her. She was always off with Ron somewhere any way, the only person who seemed to be enjoying her company.  
  
As they entered the joke shop, the twins suddenly came to a halt. Before them, there was a massive display case full of candies.  
  
"Bloody hell!" they exclaimed in unison. Fae and Hermione exchanged confused glances as they grabbed a box in disbelief. "What a rip off! Blimey!" George exclaimed, shoving the box in their faces.  
  
"Ton Tongue Toffees," Hermione read out loud. She sighed. "Oh, Fred, it's just a candy," she rolled her eyes irritably and flipped her hair  
  
"Yes," George said for him. "But our candy," he then gasped and grabbed another box off of the shelf. "Exploding Wands too! Our bloody idea! Our hard work, and time, and consideration, and blood, and sweat. . ." he sobbed dramatically into his hands and Fred grabbed him in a hug, being just as facetious.  
  
They were joking about it, but they still felt resentment toward a certain fat, short little wizard that they hadn't seen for quite some time.  
  
Fae was completely clueless, so Ginny explained. Just a year before, the twins had been trying to sell their jokes to Cornelius Fudge, a wizard that worked for the Ministry, and found their jokes hilarious. He had offered to sponsor them and get them their own practical joke business opportunity, in fact. He owed them money from a bet they made at the Quidditch game two summers ago, but he had been in so much debt with the Goblins and Gringott's that he ignored the twins' blackmail. So basically, he never paid them, and they never got their business offer. And now he had stolen their ideas, patented them, and sold them as his own, leaving the twins high and dry.  
  
"I say we beat his ass!" was Fae's immediate reply.  
  
The twins' ears seemed to perk up. "Yeah!" George exclaimed, balling up his fists. "We can take him!" Fred nodded, doing the same.  
  
After a while of browsing, they all left, the twins with some newly acquired Nose-Biting Teacups. They were anxious to try them out on Professor Flitwick, who always seemed to be drinking tea in his class.  
  
They went to the Three Broomsticks, where Fae had her first Butterbeer. It was non-alcoholic, because they served it to minors, yet if you drank too many it would give you the effect of being drunk, so she assumed. Because of this reason, they were sure to keep the twins off of them as much as possible.  
  
Tracy and Ron were sipping some carbonated blue liquid through the same straw, oblivious to everyone else there. Every now and then she'd lean across the table and kiss his cheek, or put her hand on his. She was so. . .perfect that it made everyone sick. Even the twins and Harry couldn't deny that she was a very attractive girl. Didn't have much going for a personality, so they decided that maybe Ron was mainly intrigued by her looks.  
  
"She's probably one of those Veela whores, and she's got him under some kind of spell," Ginny spat, and Hermione gasped with shock.  
  
"Ginny!"  
  
Fae, however, was laughing contently. That did seem like what was happening, and she did resemble a Veela: deep blue, almond shaped eyes, long blonde hair-although hers was very curly-and a perfectly shaped face and a curvaceous body. The only thing that made her look human was her skin; it always seemed to be nicely tanned. She had long, thick lashes, a few light freckles across her nose and a perfect half-moon smile. Fae would admit that she was a little jealous of Tracy; she was a very pretty girl indeed.  
  
After a good hour or so, they finally decided to head back to Hogwarts. Fae, Hermione and the twins all walked together, leaving Ron and Tracy hand in hand, and Harry and Ginny ahead of them. Fae looked over her shoulder at the two Quidditch stars and smiled.  
  
"That's so cute. They'd be such a great couple if they were ever together."  
  
Fred looked weird. "That's my sister. I'd prefer not to think about it," he said, scrunching up his face.  
  
George nodded. "Yeah, you sick bastard, because you get jealous easily," he teased. Fred made an angry noise and chased him down toward the path that would eventually lead them back to Hogwarts.  
  
"You know, I believe they're the only seventh years that hang around with younger students as much as they do," Fae said. Hermione smirked.  
  
"It's because they used to fancy you."  
  
"Used to," Fae emphasized before Hermione could carry on. She actually had no idea the twins both used to have a. . . a crush on her, but didn't want to talk about it. It was a bit of an awkward conversation. They heard the boys' shouting in the distance, and they shook their heads and laughed after them.  
  
Hermione put her hand on Fae's arm. Peering over her shoulder to see if anyone was listening, she leaned in. "You know, Harry and Ginny like each other," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.  
  
She looked surprised. "Oh, so they're together?" she tilted her head inquisitively.  
  
Hermione sighed. "No, actually, they have no idea. It's strange, really, everyone in the school knows about it, except them."  
  
"Really?" Fae looked over her shoulder, and saw that Harry was now giving the younger girl a piggyback ride. She chuckled to herself and sighed. "Ah, love. Makes me sick," she said, and Hermione shoved her lightly.  
  
"Fae!" she giggled.  
  
+ + +  
  
There was a celebration in the Gryffindor common room that night. Professor McGonagall was staying to 'supervise', until a Nose-Biting Teacup angered her and she just decided to leave the room. As soon as this happened, the twins brought out an empty Butterbeer bottle. They waved in the air menacingly, and a crowd of Gryffindors instantly created a circle around them.  
  
As soon as the game of Spin the Bottle had started, Fae and Hermione instantly found their way out of the circle. As soon as they did this, they were bombarded a series of begs and chants to get them to play. Hermione made up an excuse about having to do some of her homework, and ran off into the girls' dormitories. Only she really did have some extra credit that she wanted to look in to, so it wasn't a total lie.  
  
"Yeah so do I!" Fae exclaimed loudly, which wasn't true. She started her way up the stairs, but George pounced on her, pinning her to the ground.  
  
He put her hands behind her back and sat on them. She shrieked, laughing and kicking her feet. "Lemme go!" she squealed.  
  
"Only if you play!" he shouted back.  
  
After some more kicking, and the tickling of her feet-they found that she's ticklish pretty much everywhere on her body, but her feet and sides were most sensitive-she was forced to play. It was blackmail, really: tickled to death if she didn't play. She mumbled something about hormonally challenged people, and if they wanted to kiss people so bad why didn't they just do it without having to spin a bottle around ("Because it's more fun this way!" Dean Thomas had shouted instantly, and there was an automatic agreement amongst the other students.)  
  
She crossly sat down, folding her arms and continually mumbling. Games such as this always made her feel so self-conscious. Probably because her first experience, when she spun the bottle, the boy it landed on was thoroughly disgusted by her, and didn't even try to hide it.  
  
Fred eagerly took the bottle, and spun. It landed on Parvati Patil, a Gryffindor fifth year. She bounded across the circle and kissed Fred, who was grinning ear to ear. Parvati and her younger sister were considered to be the two prettiest girls at Hogwarts. After she had left, George punched him in the arm and mumbled "Lucky bastard."  
  
Parvati spun and it landed on a Hufflepuff girl. There was laughter among the circle and she quickly spun again. It landed on another boy Fae didn't know, probably from Hufflepuff. The spinning went on, Fae barely paying attention, and bored out of her mind. Tracy and Ron had been kissing quite a few times, although the bottle had neglected to even land on either of them.  
  
Ginny and Harry had been glancing at each other constantly, but when their eyes finally met, they'd quickly look away. Fae had been watching them, completely oblivious to the bottle that had rolled to a stop, pointing at her.  
  
She looked up and saw Ron looking at her with a look of horror on his face. Fae did the same, praying that it wasn't his spin. Unfortunately, it was. She saw Tracy glare daggers at her, and she pushed her hair behind her ear. For a second, he squirmed in his seat, as if deciding whether or not he was going to do it or not.  
  
Fae cleared her throat. "Well! Look at the clock; way past my bedtime!" she exclaimed.  
  
Fred checked his watch. "It's nine-thirty on a Saturday night," he retorted, and she paused, and then laughed nervously.  
  
"Ah! Aye! Well, it's um-it's Irish tradition! To go to bed early one Friday of every month!" she made up the lamest lie she ever had. Neville Longbottom, who was also Irish, shook his head.  
  
"No it's not," he said slowly.  
  
She shot him her best I'll-kill-you-in-your-sleep look and headed up the stairs. She was not about to kiss the boy who had been trying to make her life a living hell, especially in front of his almost-girlfriend. 


	6. Girls Don't Fight

As the leaves turned darker and started to fall off of the trees, Fae's spirits became uplifted. She hadn't been studying as hard and was still manage to pass all of her classes. Though, of course, she being a Gryffindor, she was on the borderline of below average in Snape's class.  
  
Due to her good mood, Hermione was starting to talk to her more often. Of course, Ron wasn't-she couldn't even meet his eyes now-and Harry still wasn't either, for some reason. It was actually because his scar was getting worse and worse as the year went on. And he still found it to only burn when he was around Fae.  
  
Hermione was walking with her to breakfast. They passed by a window and looked outside. "Oh, bugger. It's starting to get cold outside. I hate the winter.." she sighed.  
  
Fae's eyes went wide. "Are you mad? Winter's the best season in the whole year! I love the cold. And the snow, and the gray skies, and the ice," She smiled contently and seemed to go off into her own dreamland.  
  
The other girl looked surprised. "Really? Oh, I love the spring."  
  
Fae stuck her tongue out. "Yeck!"  
  
"Now what are you going to tell me that's wrong with spring?" Hermione put her hand on her hip.  
  
Fae sighed and began reciting. "As others were, I could not bring, my passions for.."  
  
"..A common spring." A voice behind her finished her sentence. They turned around and saw Draco standing there, his usual smirk on his face. "Edgar Allan Poe. The only muggle I can come up with who could qualify for being considered brilliant."  
  
Fae looked excited that she wasn't the only person who could recite lines from Poe's works. "Oh, yeah! I love him!" She exclaimed. She suddenly snapped her mouth shut, after she realized whom she was talking to.  
  
Hermione looked confused, and Fae felt her face grow hot. If Draco tried to talk to her like he had before, she was definitely going to hear it from Herm. Fae cleared her throat and put her hand on the back of Hermione's shoulder, shoving her.  
  
"See you later Draco nice talking to you bye." She said in one breath, and they disappeared into the Great Hall.  
  
Hermione looked at her inquisitively (and Fae suddenly realized she was shorter than Herm). "What was that all about?" she questioned, and Fae felt her face grow hot again.  
  
She shrugged. "I don't know what got into him."  
  
"No, I meant with you." She said, looking at her with concern. "I don't mean to sound like your mother or anything, but I really don't think you should be hanging around Draco Malfoy. He's in the Slytherin house."  
  
"So?"  
  
"So that means something's wrong with him! Not a single witch or wizard who's come out of there hasn't gone to the dark side. And when he was first being sorted, the hat put him into Slytherin before he even had it on his head."  
  
Fae looked around, but could only come up with another "So?"  
  
"So! Good Lord, you are just like Ron! Draco's a bad person, Fae!" she exclaimed, and sighed. "I'm not trying to tell you what to do, just to guide you along a bit. I'm just looking out for you. As corny as that sounds."  
  
Fae nodded, although Hermione could tell she was angry. She knew that one of her biggest pet peeves was when someone tried to tell her what to do, and she had seemed pretty stressed out over the last few months. Maybe she just needed to lay off.  
  
"Come on." She said, and smiled. "I know what'll turn that frown upside down! Look at all those pancakes!"  
  
Fae's eyes went wide. "Today is pancake day? Oh wow, there is a God!" She put her hands together like she was praying, and dramatically looked up into the sky and 'cried' tears of joy.  
  
Hermione laughed and they practically skipped off to the breakfast table. About halfway through, owls came flying in.  
  
"Ah, post's here." Fred proclaimed.  
  
Fae laughed, rolling her eyes. "Wow! You're quick!" she exclaimed sarcastically, and stuck his tongue out. Her put his arm around her.  
  
"I think I'm going to have to kill you." He said in a lowered tone, as if it were no big deal.  
  
* "Bitch say what?" Fae exclaimed in a high-pitch American 'gangsta' voice. He and George practically fell over laughing-though it wasn't really that funny-as the owls swooped down over the house tables.  
  
A brown owl flew over Fae's head and dropped a package. It was clear plastic, and looked like a parcel, with masking tape forming a cross over it. It was full of a white powder. It could easily be mistaken as some sort of illegal drug. Ron gasped.  
  
"Harry! Look, it's Heroin! I told you she was a Columbian drug Lord!" he exclaimed, pointing to her parcel in shock.  
  
The boy with the scar rolled his eyes. "Ron, she's a girl. She can't be a Lord."  
  
He ignored his comment, and Fae glared daggers at the redhead. "It's flour, Ron." She spat, cracking her knuckles angrily. "For my Study of Muggles project. I took the class because I've lived with Muggles for fifteen years..I should ace it."  
  
Ron suddenly looked embarrassed, as his ears went pink. "Uhhh, has anyone seen Tracy?" he changed the subject. Hermione massaged her temples and shook her head.  
  
George loudly changed the subject. "So! When are we going to go to Hogsmeade?"  
  
Fae squinted. "Whowhat?"  
  
+ + +  
  
"Ahhh, it's finally Friday." Fae sighed happily, and flopped down on her four-post bed. Hermione was sorting through her papers and organizing.  
  
"Oh, bloody hell."  
  
Fae looked over at her. "Hermione. You swore. You're improving." She sat up and looked outside. "I'm going to go walk around outside. I need fresh air. Wanna come with?"  
  
She smiled and then shoved all over her books together. "No, I can't. I'm missing some of my notes I took; I suppose I should go to the Library and fix them. I know, I know, it's Friday." She said, knowing Fae was about to protest. "But I just want to get it out of the way now so I don't have to deal with it later."  
  
"Alright" Fae sighed, and they walked out of the dormitories and into the common room, where Ron and Harry were talking. Fae could have sworn, if Ron was a cat, he would have hissed at her with his fur standing on end.  
  
She raised her hands defensively as the painting-door swung open, and she and Hermione left the room. They reached the main corridor separating the Library and the door to head outside, and went their separate ways.  
  
As Fae stepped out into the crisp fall air, she took in a deep breath and exhaled happily. Fall. Winter was coming soon. She let her feet carry her, and found herself winding around the school, her fingers tracing freely along the walls as she walked.  
  
She had reached the south side of the school, towards the outside of the Potions class, when she heard shouting.  
  
"Leave me alone, fat-ass!"  
  
"Hmmm..no."  
  
It was Ginny and someone else. Someone sounding very un-intelligent. She heard a second mentally declined voice laughing along with the other, and snarled. Crabbe and Goyle.  
  
She peered around the corner of the school, and saw Crabbe pulling on her pigtail and Goyle going through her books, ripping the pages out. Fae bit her lip: to kick some ass, or not to kick some ass. That is the question.  
  
Ginny clawed at Goyle, shouting for him to quit it and that she needed that book. They both knew good and well that the Weasleys weren't the most wealthy family, and she most likely wouldn't be able to afford another one of those books.  
  
Goyle looked down on her and sneered. "Don't touch me." He said, putting his hand on her collarbone and pushing her to the ground. Fae glared; that was it. She stormed out of her hiding spot angrily.  
  
"HEY!" she shouted, and pounded over to them. "You two puffs think you can mess with some girl a year younger than you?"  
  
Crabbe and Goyle both folded their arms, trying to look intimidating. Ginny stood up and shrank back against the wall. One of her braids had come undone from the pulling, and she had some dirt and scuffmarks on her uniform.  
  
Fae stopped just before them and glared at them. "What the hell do you think you're doing, picking the easy way out? If you wanna pick on someone, go on. Hit me."  
  
She shoved him, and he stumbled back a bit. She shoved him again. "Come on, push me back! Push me back! What's the matter, you're scared now?"  
  
She actually had no idea what she was doing; and now she realized just how stupid it was for her to have waltzed out and threatened two boys, twice her size and weight. She sometimes talked more than what she could do, and never ever thought before she acted; now being one of those times.  
  
The two brain dead ones exchanged glances, and Goyle jerked his head in her direction, edging him to do it.  
  
"What? Why don't you hit her?" Crabbe exclaimed.  
  
"Because she's a girl!"  
  
"Ginny's a girl too and you pushed her too!"  
  
"Shh! Well this one's bigger than she is!"  
  
"By like a bloody inch!"  
  
Fae sighed and glared. "You're a bunch of brain dead puffs. You're not worth it." She said, somewhat hopeful they actually weren't going to hit her. She turned to Ginny, who was still against the wall.  
  
"Hey, you all right?" she asked, and Ginny nodded.  
  
"Yeah." She seemed a little annoyed, and Fae could understand why: she was making it look like she couldn't stick up for her self by rushing in there and fighting them off for her. Which wasn't the case by any means; she was a very independent girl. Although she probably wouldn't have done something as stupid as Fae and rushed in there to fight with two boys that were obviously much stronger than her.  
  
Fae nodded. "Come on, let's get out of here." She said, and Ginny nodded.  
  
"My thoughts exactly."  
  
She smiled, but when she turned around, she was face-to-face with Goyle again. He put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back as he had with Ginny. Apparently he applied more force, and she tumbled to the ground, and rolled once.  
  
"Are you okay?" Ginny exclaimed, and shot Goyle a death glare.  
  
Fae winced. "Yeah, I'm fine. The ground broke my fall." She said, and stood up. Crabbe was cackling like a madman, and Goyle had walked to her again. She met him halfway and pushed him back.  
  
"Now you wanna fight?" she said, pushing him again before she gave herself time to think.  
  
"Yeah." He said, and drew his fist back to punch her.  
  
Fae ducked, which was very fortunate; she wouldn't have been able to block that blow to her jaw. When she stood back up, she knocked him down on his back and kneeled over his stomach. She probably wouldn't have been able to do that if he was expecting it; she wasn't exactly the strongest person, nor tallest or heaviest.  
  
She grabbed him by the shirt collar and hit him once in the face, before he rolled over and did the same to her twice. She started using the palm of her hand and hitting him in the head, but he didn't seem to budge.  
  
Struggling beneath him, she finally realized that he was a male. She forcefully kicked her leg up, nailing him right between the legs, and rolled back over on him. She hit him in the face a few times, managing to actually hit him on his nose, which had been her main target. However, he was still able to hit her across her face too, and she shouted when his fist connected with her mouth. Fae kept punching him and punching him harder, not sure whether she was hitting him or the ground.  
  
The next thing she knew, forceful hands were grabbing her beneath the arms and fighting to get her off of him. She kept clawing at him, although she was mainly just getting air.  
  
She turned her head around to see Fred was the one that was holding on to her, and she narrowed her eyes angrily.  
  
"Let me go!" she screeched. Her fighting had taken over her body and now she was ready to kill anyone who even touched her.  
  
Goyle was standing before her with a shocked expression on his face. The fight was apparently over on his side, and he didn't even look like he wanted to hit her any more. She, however, seemed to have turned into someone completely different. She was acting like someone who lived for fighting and hurting others.  
  
Fae broke from Fred's grasp and grabbed Goyle by the collar once more, but both of the twins grabbed her again before she could do anything.  
  
"Goyle, I'll kill you!" she screamed, as the twins held on to her arms. Suddenly, the impact of what happened hit her.  
  
She had just got into a fight, mercilessly trying to hurt someone, and said she would kill Goyle. She really did want to kill someone.  
  
Fae finally stopped struggling, and the twins loosened their grip. She looked around, suddenly noticing the crowd that had formed. It wasn't very large, but apparently large enough to attract a few teachers.  
  
Professor McGonagall and Snape were storming over, the large, shouting crowd making the fight more conspicuous.  
  
"Oh, shit." Fae whispered, shrinking back into the twins. Draco watched from the back, his ice blue eyes following her as the teachers drug her and Goyle into the school.  
  
+ + +  
  
"I am extremely disappointed in the both of you!" Professor McGonagall preached. They were sitting in her classroom, after they had visited the Hospital wing.  
  
Goyle had a bloody nose and a black eye, and Fae had a black eye, a cut on her cheek and a rather large and ugly bruise on her leg. Her hair was messed up and her shirt collar was ripped, as well as his. She had a hole in her jeans and they were both covered in dirt and scuffmarks. Fae also had a red mark on her arm from Snape's grip as he drug her in the school; he apparently didn't know his own strength, or maybe he did want to hurt her. That sounded more like him. She obviously had more physical damage than Goyle, but he dreaded hearing it from everyone how a girl had beat his tail.  
  
"Fae, this is your third time being in trouble so far, and the second time for fighting. I don't understand the basis of its appeal; girls don't fight."  
  
She shot her an unnoticed glare. A female teacher was being sexist towards other females; what an oxymoron.  
  
"I'm just as disappointed with Goyle, but surprisingly, he's decided to abide to the rules this year. I don't know why either of you think that you have the right to just disobey and disregard Hogwarts code."  
  
After some more preaching to neither of them really listened to, she excused Goyle. After he left and shut the door, glaring at Fae the whole way out, Professor McGonagall folded her hands on her desk and leaned forward.  
  
"Fae, what exactly happened? Why did you fight with Goyle?"  
  
She swallowed hard and finally let the tears reflect in her eyes. She had been holding them back until Goyle had left; never let them see you cry. "They were picking on Ginny." She said, choking over the knot in her throat.  
  
"Who were?"  
  
"Crabbe and Goyle." She said, sniffing. She felt like such a baby crying, and she wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand. "They were both picking on Ginny, and he pushed her to the ground and I lost it.  
  
I didn't really want to fight him.I just acted before I thought. For a minute I thought I wouldn't have to, but then he started pushing me and I just pushed him back, and it started from there."  
  
Professor McGonagall nodded, her expression unreadable. She seemed to be in deep thought. "Fae, dear." She said, and the younger girl stared at the ground. She sighed and took off her glasses, rubbing her eyes.  
  
"I hate to say this but, if your behavior doesn't get any better," she paused, and put her spectacles back on. "I'm afraid you're going to have to leave Hogwarts."  
  
+ + +  
  
Fae mumbled the password to get into the Gryffindor common room, and wiped her eyes one last time as the painting swung open. It was no use; her cheeks still looked glossy and her eyes were red. She sniffed and put her head down, hoping they wouldn't see.  
  
Thankfully, only Ron, Harry, and Hermione were in there. When she saw her appearance, Hermione did a double take.  
  
"Fae! What happened?" she gasped.  
  
"I fell." She mumbled, and trudged up the stairs to the girl's dormitories. The sound of a door shutting echoed throughout the common room, sounding final.  
  
Harry and Ron exchanged glances, and the twins came in shortly after.  
  
"Do you know what happened to Fae?" Harry asked quietly, and they nodded. Fred ran a hand through his hair and started telling them what had happened. Soon, everyone knew the whole story, and Ron didn't say anything smart for once. Hermione sighed with concern. "I'm going to go check on her." She said, and stood up.  
  
She walked up to the girls' dormitories and knocked gently. She received no answer, and slowly opened the door.  
  
+ + +  
  
"Is she okay?" Fred finally asked no one in particular. Hermione had been gone for an hour or so, and he had begun pacing. He received no answer, and George stood up.  
  
"I'll go check." He said. Ron stood up too.  
  
"I'll go with you." He mumbled, surprising everyone.  
  
Still no one said much as the two brothers crept up the stairs, and stood outside the girls' dormitory. The door was open a crack, and they peered inside, as silent as two little mice. The two girls were sitting on a bed, and Fae's head was in Hermione's lap as she fingered her hair. They heard Hermione speaking, though it was inaudible. She was answered by Fae's quiet sobbing and a few words here and there.  
  
George sighed and looked at the ground, and put his hand on Ron's shoulder. "C'mon, let's go." He said, and they headed back downstairs.  
  
Harry and George looked up hopefully, but received a sad look from Fred, and sunk back down into their seats.  
  
+ + +  
  
Rumors about the fight swarmed through the corridors that following Monday, and Fae found it especially noticeable when she walked by. Echoes and whispers of her name, and piercing Slytherin eyes didn't really make her journey from class to class enjoyable.  
  
Care of Magical Creatures was the worst. Throughout the entire class, insults, whispering and hysterical laughter sounded while they looked at her in disgust. It was all from the Slytherins, and she even received a few spitballs on her face. However, Draco's substitute-of-where-a-heart-should- be seemed to let off on that day, too. At least there was one less person she had to deal with.  
  
She kept her eyes down on her desk throughout Hagrid's entire demonstration on Faux, Albus Dumbledore's pet Phoenix. He had supposedly gotten it just in time for them to be able to watch the Phoenix burst into flames and a new one rise from its ashes.  
  
She saw Pavarti walking to her desk, and raised her head to watch her. She didn't know how she didn't see it coming; her obvious attempts to not look at Fae, and the bucket of water in her hands used for putting out the Phoenix flames.  
  
"Oh, oops!" Pavarti exclaimed, 'tripping' and spilling her entire bucket of water over Fae's head.  
  
The class erupted into laughter, even some of the Gryffindors. The water spilled over Fae's hair, completely drenching her blouse and most of her skirt. Of course, her shirt was white, and became transparent as the water soaked in.  
  
She turned to Pavarti and raised her hand to slap her, but stopped herself. She couldn't do anything about it, and she knew. Pavarti knew that if she got in trouble just once more, then she was to be expelled.  
  
"Ohhh, I'm so sorry, Fae!" she said, putting her hand on her shoulder. "I forgot this." She put the bucket over her head, and walked away. Of course, the class erupted into even more laughter, as Hagrid tried to calm everyone down.  
  
Fae grabbed the bucket off of her head, and screamed on the top of her lungs. Most everyone was silent as she threw the bucket on the ground and ran out of the class.  
  
"Mudbloods!" the Slytherin class shouted in unison, and started throwing crumpled up paper, most of them aiming for Hermione. They had planned some sort of attack involving the entire house. Just to make them look stupid, too. Well, they had succeeded.  
  
Hagrid turned to Ron. "Will you go get Fae, please?" he said.  
  
Ron started to protest, but Hagrid had already moved on to the paper war. He turned to Harry with a worried look on his face, but found him to not be in his seat. He was behind the twins, throwing paper back at the Slytherins.  
  
He sighed and ran out the door, chasing after Fae. As he stepped into the gray-sky morning, he caught a glimpse of Fae running into the main door to the school.  
  
"Hey, wait!" he shouted, although he knew there was no way he could hear her. He broke into a run and headed for the school.  
  
He had reached the inside of the school, and hadn't seen any signs of Fae. He wandered around, checking the Library, even waiting outside the girls' bathrooms. Finally, he heard a door shut. He ran up the staircases and saw a single door; the other was way down the corridor and he wouldn't have been able to hear it shut as clearly.  
  
As he walked closer, he noticed that it was the door Fae had hidden in when he and Tracy were in the hall. He grabbed the handle, and pulled with all his might; it was locked.  
  
He pulled out his wand and pointed it at the door. "Alohamora." He said, and there was a clicking sound. Pulling the door again, it finally moved. As soon as he had it opened all the way, an enormous explosion of cold air greeted him. He gasped and grabbed onto the door before he was swept away. The air didn't let up, and a loud howling sounded; it was as if he were on the inside of a tornado.  
  
Peering inside, he saw Fae, shrunken up against a wall. She seemed to not be able to move because the wind pushing her back, and she was looking into the vast darkness with a look of awe on her face. Ron turned his head to see what she was staring at, as his fingers started slipping. He suddenly gasped as he saw an enormous dark mark, covering the entire expanse of the center of the room.  
  
A/n: "Bitch say what?" is from the movie The New Guy. For anyone who's seen it, it's the part where he goes up to beat up the big popular jock the first time in front of the school and gets his ass kicked. Quite a funniful movie. 


	7. The Accused

Fae staggered to her feet when she saw Ron, and was immediately blown back against the wall. She slowly, slowly made her way over to the door, taking baby steps and staying up against the cool stone. Ron still couldn't believe what he was seeing. Fae had just conjured up a huge, huge dark mark, bigger than the one he had seen at the Quidditch game last summer with Harry and Hermione.  
  
He saw her pale white hand grasp onto the side of the doorframe opposing him, and finally pulled herself out of the room. She grabbed onto his robes and kind of swung herself over to his side, and they both started to push the door back. With some difficulty, it was finally shut again. They both put their backs against it and sunk down onto the floor.  
  
After a few minutes of heavy breathing, Ron staggered to his feet. "You!" he said, pointing at her. "What the bloody hell were you doing creating the dark mark? Do you know how much trouble that gets you into? And you're looking to stay out of it! I can't believe you did that! I came in here to get you and.and.argghhh! And where did you learn? What were you thinking?"  
  
She opened her mouth as if she was going to say something, but remained silent. She looked down at her feet, not daring to meet his eyes. Suddenly, footsteps were heard. Ron turned his head worriedly, and was greeted by Tracy. Fae suddenly remembered how see-through her shirt had become after the water-spill, and folded her arms, trying to cover her chest. Hopefully the winds had helped dry her clothes.  
  
Tracy skipped over, her smile shining like a sun. She could have modeled if she had wanted to.  
  
The exact opposite of me, Fae thought, scratching her ear.  
  
Tracy stopped before them and linked her arm with Ron's. "Hey y'all, Happy Halloween.. Mah Goodness! You're all wet!" she looked at Fae with a shocked expression.  
  
Ron couldn't help but smile at the sweetness of her voice; her accent made her sound so innocent all the time.  
  
Fae smacked her hand to the side of her mouth. "No!" she exclaimed, dripping with as much sarcasm as water. She winced, suddenly wanting to slap herself again; Tracy was finally being nice to her, and she was being a bitch right back.  
  
Tracy looked hurt for a minute, and apparently decided not to ask what had happened. Instead, Ron asked her what she was doing out of class. He turned her away from the girl sitting against the wall, and they started to walk away as she told him she was just going to the bathroom and heard a noise (the loud winds coming from the dark mark). Ron neglected to mention just what that noise was, although Fae was sure he'd tell her eventually.  
  
She looked up and saw Ron up against the wall and Tracy with her arms around his neck. She said something in his ear and he turned a bright shade of red, as she brushed the hair out of his eyes. Their lips were getting closer and closer as they continued to speak and Fae watched in disgust. Tracy said something again, and pressed her cherry red mouth against his. Fae's eyes bulged, and as soon as she saw the Southern girl's tongue snake into his mouth, she stood up and stormed off.  
  
He had come to get Fae, to see if she was all right? Bull. She headed up into the Gryffindor common room, where she stayed until dinnertime. She had spent her time on her bed, going over her Accio summoning spell. It was taking her a long time, and she hardly made any progress with everything that had happened prior to that moment on her mind. Right then she didn't care if she missed any classes or not; she didn't want anyone to ever see her again. Although, on the other hand, she felt that maybe the Halloween dinner Hogwarts had, would lift her spirits. As she headed to the Great Hall, she had barely turned the first corner, when she bumped into Draco.  
  
"What are you doing here?" her first question fired right away; they were in the Gryffindor hall, hardly anyone but Gryffindors were ever there.  
  
His answer shocked her. "Looking for you." He said. She slumped back into the wall, beneath a gold and burgundy tapestry: Gryffindor's colors. Draco fingered the tapestry's long golden rope, and its tassel. After a few seconds, he spoke. "I saw your fight with Goyle. I saw you go mad on him, and how you didn't want to stop fighting. I know what happened; you felt something inside of you. And you're wondering what's been wrong with you lately.. what's been driving you to do these unmerciful acts.  
  
"You wanted to kill him, didn't you?"  
  
His words were like a brick being thrown into a window, shocking her. That seemed almost completely random. She remembered just how angry she had been with Goyle, and how she hadn't wanted to stop fighting him, even after he was finished. How she threatened to take his life.  
  
"I did." She choked, finally meeting his eyes.  
  
He smiled contently and nodded his head once. "I told you. I told you that there was something dark inside of you. Right now," he put his hand on hers and stared over her shoulder in thought. "Yes." He said, "Yes, right now, I feel it more than ever."  
  
He kept his hand on hers, and there were a few seconds of silence. She lifted her hand up to 'scratch her nose', evading his grasp. She looked into his eyes once more, and said "Well, I best be heading to dinner. I hear they have a wicked Halloween one planned out."  
  
Draco looked at her for a minute, and then finally nodded. They walked to the Great Hall; she a few steps ahead of him, and stopped before the doors. "You sure you want to be seen with a Gryffindor mudblood?" she said, almost teasingly, and he laughed.  
  
Draco-a Slytherin-egotistical, inconsiderate Draco Malfoy was laughing at Fae's joke. This was really, really weird. She opened the doors uneasily, and a few of the students looked up. Most of them were concentrating on the tons and tons of candy they had strewn out across their tables. Carmel apples, doughnuts, humungous lollipops and a large assortment of sweets and goodies adorned the tables.  
  
Floating jack-o-lanterns hovered around the room and bats flew by every now and then (of course, just a spell.) The ceiling reflected a dark, cloudy night sky with the occasional roll of thunder and clap of lightning.  
  
Fae squealed excitedly and skipped off to join the others, completely forgetting about Draco. He snorted as she sat down, then he went to go join his house table.  
  
As soon as she sat down between Fred and George, even they moved away from her a little bit. The others just looked at Fae for a while. She had a look of confusion on her face, and then it dawned on her. She silently prayed that Ron hadn't told everyone what had happened; she really didn't need that. But of course, he had.  
  
She brushed her hair behind her ear self-consciously, as the others kept looking back from themselves, to her. Finally, conversation struck up and Fae decided to just keep quiet. After a few moments, Mr Filch came hobbling in and hurried over to the head table to Dumbledore. He was a scary sight, really. He had a mouth full of twisted yellow teeth and long, un-kept hair. His eyes were beady and he had brownish-black stubble covering his entire chin and some of his neck. He had a disgusted sneer on his face as he spoke to the headmaster. A gray and brown cat trailed behind him, and Fae noticed that it had blood-red eyes.  
  
She continued watching him, hoping that things couldn't get worse. The entire table of teachers turned their heads to look at her briefly, before turning back to Filch. Thrusting her arms up in the air in defeat, she banged her head on the table a few times.  
  
"Damn this-ow-bad day-ow-on my favorite-ow-holiday! Ow!"  
  
The others at her table exchanged glances, not daring to say anything. A few teachers walked out the door, lead by Filch. She guessed that they were heading towards the door where the dark mark was discovered. They were going to find her for sure, and this would definitely get her expelled; she hadn't bothered to tell Ron what had really happened.  
  
Fred tried to cover his suspicions by turning the conversation over to her. "So, Fae! How are you coming along on your Herbology Dark Mark-I MEAN HOMEWORK! HOMEWORK! I SAID HOMEWORK!" he suddenly exclaimed at his accidental misuse of words.  
  
"Oh, Merlin save us." George mumbled, massaging his temples. Fred was now slamming a textbook on his forehead mercilessly as the others exchanged glances.  
  
"Do you really think I did it?" Fae's soft voice quieted them.  
  
Immediately, they turned dead silent, suddenly finding their plates extremely interesting, and were unable to make eye contact with her. She looked amongst them, waiting for an answer. When she received none, she snorted and left the table.  
  
+ + +  
  
Until around Christmas break, Fae found herself to be alone most of the time, again. This had been happening pretty often so far this year. She barely spoke to any of the other Gryffindors, except for an awkward 'thank you' from Ginny for pretty much saving her tail from Crabbe and Goyle. But other than that, she just talked to Violete, and surprisingly Tracy. She wouldn't really call it 'talking' with Draco; it mainly consisted of him staring at her across the room and leaving notes here and there about how 'she needed him more than she knew' and about the 'dark side' she had. She usually just wadded them up and threw them over her shoulder, and made it a point to avoid him for the rest of the day.  
  
She tried to speak with her so-called friends, but they usually just ended their conversations quickly or made up an excuse to leave.  
  
Her nickname had soon become "bucket", because of what Pansy had done to her. A lot of Slytherins, and some exceptionally rude people from other houses, called her that and mumbled something about it as they passed her in the hall. She assumed that was as creative as they could get, but at least her name spoke the truth about her; Pansy was, in fact, a little Pansy. She was pretty much all talk.  
  
This went on for a few more months, as it neared Christmas. She was debating on whether or not to stay at Hogwarts over the Holiday at breakfast one day, when three single owls flew in, all struggling to carry a heavy object. Surprisingly, they fluttered down and hovered over Fae, as a few heads turned. She took it in her hands and looked at the brown paper wrapping. After a few moments, a huge grin crossed her face and she ran off to the Gryffindor common room.  
  
From that moment on, she mainly stayed up in her common room, or somewhere outside studying and teaching herself her newly acquired guitar. It was her early Christmas present from her parents; she had been asking for an acoustic and finally got one. It looked like finished natural wood, as most acoustics; only it was a dark blue in color. Although she didn't hang out with others much any more, when she taught herself some tablature a few people who had obviously never heard guitarists crowded around to listen to her. They thought she sounded really good when she was actually kind of bad at it. But it was a work in progress.  
  
Naturally, Fae didn't go to the Yule Ball. As everyone else prettied them selves up in their nice dress robes-Ron's didn't look like an actual dress this year-she sat on her bed, writing down tablature for her guitar. Ginny and Hermione were talking about a boy named Viktor Krum. apparently two other schools would be joining them. She didn't dare ask which schools, or try to make conversation. Instead, she was rather nosey, and listened in.  
  
Hermione was again going with this Viktor character, Ginny with Harry ("Just as mates!" as she had suddenly exclaimed in defense). Fred and George were trying to balance two dates each, and Fae almost wished that she was going so she would be able to see it. Ron and Tracy were going together, of course, and she wondered if Violete was going or not.  
  
Soon enough, she was the only one left in the house. She sat on her bed the entire time, writing down more music and attempting to play her guitar. She was doing okay, for someone who was teaching herself in her spare time. And she had no access to prewritten music, so she only knew her own. After a few hours, and still no one returned other than one Third Year girl to get more of her make up (Fae didn't see why; she looked like she was wearing a mask as it already was). She decided to just walk around and maybe stand outside the Great Hall, just to see what was going on, of course.  
  
Reaching the Great Hall, the first thing she took note of was the music. It wasn't bad, as in very obvious bad, but she couldn't really picture many people dancing to it. The doors were open, and as she glanced in, she saw that it was very dark. It looked somewhat like a muggle dance; there were colored lights and bubbles and a smoke machine, although there was nothing operating it other than magic.  
  
She snorted; apparently, she wasn't missing much. There were quite a few people dancing, but most of them were off to the side. She did find it interesting to watch the twins holding a break-dancing competition, though. For a few seconds, she almost missed their company. Then she saw Ron and Tracy up against the wall, and she was surprised they weren't burning a hole through the stone. They were making out as if he were going off to war and this would be the last time she was to see him. She stifled a laugh; he looked as if he were about to choke on her tongue. She stood there for a few more moments, just looking around the room.  
  
Social gatherings.. not her type of place.  
  
+ + +  
  
As the winter break drew near, she finally decided that this being her only two years in Hogwarts, she would be staying there over the vacation. Of course, basically every one of her former 'friends', except Hermione, was too. So of course, she didn't join them in unwrapping the presents Christmas day. As they hastily tore the colored paper off of an assortment of different boxes and shouted loudly, she snaked down the stairs, unnoticed until the door shut behind her. They all looked at each other, then under the tree.  
  
"No presents?" Harry searched for anything marked with the name 'Fae', with no luck at all. He didn't realize that her present this year was her guitar, and she had already received it. Meanwhile, Ron was unwrapping yet another ugly sweater knit from his mum.  
  
"Aw, geez." He said, as the twins sniggered.  
  
+ + +  
  
Fae had wandered down the hall, a few flights of stairs, and found herself to be who-knows-where. She suspected it to be somewhere above the great hall, as she stood before one of the windows. She looked outside and, seeing the snow, smiled. There had been a big snowball fight before the break; she had actually participated in it, and relieved a lot of stress by pelting snowballs at people (even the twins, when their backs were turned.)  
  
Of course, the main competition had been between Gryffindor and Slytherin. By then, Fae had wandered off to the side, with Violete, and watched the show. Harry, Ron and Hermione were fighting with Draco, Crabbe and Goyle. Hermione had taken quite a few hits while restraining Ron from pulling out his wand. Not that she would mind seeing Draco turned into a ferret again or the like, but Ron never did have much luck with his wand.  
  
Eventually, Fae had grown tired and started to walk around. She somehow wound up watching Tracy and Ron walking together hand-in-hand, catching snowflakes on their tongues and the occasional playful snowball being thrown at each other; just her luck. She assumed that the two were 'together' now, seeing as to how they had been spending every waking moment with each other for the past four months.  
  
She pressed her fingers up against the glass, and looked out into the snow again. She saw that they were fogged up with little condensation from the cold outside and warm inside air mixing together. She glanced around, made sure no one was looking, and breathed up against it. A bigger cloud formed over the glass, and she wrote out her full name: Faelyinne Shay O'Connor. Feeling like a little kid back in Ireland again, she smiled contently at herself.  
  
"I didn't know that was your full name."  
  
She whirled around, and was very shocked indeed to see Ron standing behind her. She looked around nervously, not sure whether to be nice or to repay him for everything he had done to her. Brushing her hair behind her ear, she turned her back to him, leaning up against the window again.  
  
"I know it's extremely long and makes me sound like a rich snob." She said, staring out into what appeared to be endless white. "You don't have to tell me."  
  
Ron snorted. "You know, Fae, you really need to relax and quit being so edgy. I was just going to say that I think it's a nice name."  
  
She felt her face grow hot, still not turning to him. Was he complimenting her or insulting her? "You know, Ron, you shouldn't be talking. You're the one who-" she turned around and found that he had disappeared. She looked around and saw him heading off around the corridor back into the Gryffindor common room. Tracy was home for the holiday, so he had most likely just been wandering around with boredom. Huffing a sigh, she rested her chin on her fist and looked angrily out the window.  
  
After a few moments, she heard a soft 'meow' and looked down at her feet. There was a tiny, skinny little black cat rubbing at her ankles. Raising its head up, she noticed that it was missing its left eye. "Eh? Pluto!" she said with sudden realization, kneeling down. Due to her obsession with Edgar Allan Poe, when she had found Pluto on the side of the road, barely living and badly injured, she took him in. She noticed that he was missing an eye, and took the opportunity to name him after a character in Poe's short story, "The Black Cat".  
  
She scooped Pluto up in her arms and found a tiny red note-card tied around his neck. She opened it with her thumb and forefinger and saw, written in her foster-father's handwriting,  
  
Your old Pluto missed you, and apparently you can have pets at Hogwarts. Have a very Happy Christmas, Dear, and keep up on your studies! We hope to hear more from you soon! Love, Da  
  
She smiled and scratched her kitty's head as it rubbed her with its chin in return. Her father's first priority seemed to always be her education. Taking note of his hint, 'hope to hear more from you', she folded the tiny card and put it in her pocket. He was right, she hadn't been writing home as much as she had said she would be lately. Realizing she had nothing to do, she decided that writing home would be a good idea.  
  
Turning on her heel to look down the corridor, she wondered if Ron had brought Pluto to her. She realized that doing that kind of act would require kindness, something that Ron didn't really have toward her. Besides, Pluto seemed to have some kind of tracking device on her; it always managed to find her at her home back in Ireland, inside or outside. He had followed her to school quite a few times too.  
  
She slowly made her way back up to the common room, with Pluto close behind her feet. She was about to go into the common room, when she heard voices. It was Harry and Ron.  
  
"My scar still hurts when she's around."  
  
She could just picture Ron with that all-knowing look on his face. "I thought so.has it let up any?"  
  
"Not a bit." Harry sighed. There was a while of silence as Fae swallowed. She seemed to be the main topic of discussion lately, and she hated it.  
  
He finally spoke again. "Ron, do you think she created the Dark Mark?" Fae's breath caught in her throat.  
  
"I have to say so. I mean.. I saw what I saw. And I swear to you, I wouldn't make up something like that, no matter how much Fae and I don't get along." He gave a disgruntled sigh. "Well, I mean, even the teachers think that she did it!"  
  
"Did they even give her a questioning?" Harry asked him, and Ron was silent for a while. Fae didn't get to hear his answer as the door swung open, nearly knocking her off her feet. Harry and Ron came through the door, gave her a strange look, and headed off. She cursed under her breath and jumped to the wall next to the painting, hoping that somehow, they hadn't seen.  
  
She was about to head inside, when the sound of footsteps stopped her. She turned around and saw Draco walking toward her. He walked with such confidence; it was amazing at times. The only thing that really, truly bothered her about Draco-aside from his tendency to be snide-was that he appeared to be perfect. He seemed to never have anything wrong with his life, and had always been pleased just to know that he made someone else's day a living hell, as if that were all that mattered. And he wasn't anything less than perfect on the outside either; blue-gray eyes that looked like a winter's evening sky, his own original hairstyle, and a perfectly evil-looking grin. The entire female body of the school found him attractive, whether they were going to admit it or not, because of their house. As much as Fae hated to say so, she did too. He stopped before her and just looked at her. After a few minutes;  
  
"Why are you here?" Fae's usual question.  
  
"Happy Christmas to you, too." He retorted, shoving his hands into his pockets as his smirk molded into a frown.  
  
She shook her head. "No, I mean, why aren't you with your family? It's Christmas vacation."  
  
He pressed his lips together, and she figured that it was a sensitive subject. So. The emotionless one did have a sensitive side. "Never mind." Fae said, and he asked her why she wasn't at home.  
  
"Because I'm only going to be here for two years, I figure soak it up for all it's worth." She wasn't in that good of a mood, and decided to just put up with him for then. Flicking a smile, she brushed her hair behind her ears.  
  
He tilted his head. "Something wrong?"  
  
Sighing, she leaned up against the wall and looked up into the ceiling. "Oh, nothing.you know, just the usual. My entire house is accusing me of something and no one believes me," She didn't feel like getting into too much detail. She thought he might have started up on his whole 'you don't deserve what those mudbloods are doing to you' speech, but he surprisingly didn't.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
She almost choked at the sound of this, and started coughing uncontrollably. He almost started laughing as she struggled to breath. "S- sorry?" she gagged out. He slowly nodded his head, looking rather confused. She finally regained her breath and almost looked embarrassed.  
  
"Oh." Was all she could think to say, and then her expression clouded over again.  
  
He raised an eyebrow. "Would now be a good time to be sincere and ask if you want to talk about anything?"  
  
She stopped herself from choking again; why was he being so concerned about her? He hadn't cared until lately. Still, she found herself to be silently drawn towards him. "It's nothing." She said, shaking her head.  
  
For a long time there was silence, as they just looked at each other, their expressions unreadable. That same stupid lock of hair fell in her eyes again, somewhat ruining the moment, and they both chuckled a little. He reached out and brushed it back into place, barely touching her with his fingertips. Suddenly, she felt empowered. Like her very soul had grown some sort of atomic wings and just lifted off all the burdens of the past school year.  
  
Unfortunately, footsteps sounded; Ron and Harry's footsteps. They quickly exchanged glances, and he leaned forward. Fae involuntarily took a step back, but instead of kissing her like she had expected, he only rested his forehead on hers. "I want to see you later tonight. Potter has an invisibility cloak. Use it." He said. She started to protest, but he placed a soft kiss on the tip of her nose, which immediately shut her up. "Happy Christmas." He grinned, and strode off down the hallway.  
  
A few moments later, Harry and Ron walked by, and Fae was still standing there with a dazed look on her face. The two boys just kept their eyes on her as they passed, and nobody said a word.  
  
As much as she didn't want to admit, Fae was determined to get that invisibility cloak. She had no idea where Draco wanted her to be, or when, but she wanted to be there. She wanted to be with Draco Malfoy. And she was still calling him by his first name. She was surprised at her self: this wasn't normal at all. Draco-erm, Malfoy, had treated her friends like dirt, calling them names and even worse. But tried to act like nothing ever happened when he was around her. He just didn't make any sense to her, but she still felt compelled to him.  
  
She stalked into the picture frame and saw the boys all sitting scattered throughout the common room. She suspected Fred and George were still upstairs, so she went silently up to her dorm. She sat on her bed, only emerging to eat her dinner-during which she didn't see Draco-and then went back to sitting on her bed. Ron and Harry were sitting at a table in the corner of the common room. She suspected Fred and George were still upstairs, so she went silently up to her dorm. A few hours after the sunset, she sat waiting to hear the twins leave the boys rooms. She suspected that's where Harry would have the cloak hidden, but she would have to move quickly if she was to find it and leave in time for them to not see her.  
  
Finally, she decided to go check on the boys' rooms. She peered into the crack in the door, and found it completely empty. Cursing under her breath for wasting a good three hours or so, she checked her watch. It was almost ten o'clock; she needed to move quickly. 


	8. Sneakthieves

Looking over her shoulder, she felt awful going in to Harry's room and taking something without asking. Either way, she pushed the door open silently, and looked around. She hadn't been in the boys' dormitories since the first month of school, but she still remembered where Harry slept. Creeping to the foot of his bed, she kneeled down at the big black chest before her. She opened it as quietly as possible, although it creaked rather loudly. She cursed under her breath and began rummaging through the trunk, as the voices downstairs stopped; they had probably heard her. She was careful to keep all the contents in order, and she felt her hand brush up against something soft and fabric. Carefully, she pulled out the Invisibility Cloak, as she heard footsteps. Harry's voice mumbled something, and Ron did the same. She quickly ran to the other side of the room and pulled the cloak over her, just in time.  
  
She disappeared from sight just as the door opened, and Ron and Harry stepped in. They looked around, confused expressions on their faces, and then stopped to look at the foot of his bed. She had left the trunk open! She mentally slapped herself across the face, as Harry cautiously shut it again.  
  
"Must've left it open." He said, although he didn't sound like he had convinced even himself. Ron only nodded, and scanned the room. She saw him look through her, and his eyes linger on where she would be if she was visible. Still, he said nothing, and the two left the room, leaving the door open.  
  
She heaved a sigh of relief and waited a few moments. And when she heard them talking again, tiptoed down the staircase and waited by the painting. She wasn't sure how she had planned on getting out.they would be suspicious if they just saw the door swing open by itself. There was no long wait; just a few minutes later, the door swung open-Fae barely jumped out of the way-and the twins returned, carrying handfuls and mouthfuls of elf cooking.  
  
She had barely slipped out the door before it shut again, nearly catching on the tails of her cloak. She turned around, heaved a sigh of relief, and kept walking. Where was she to go? He hadn't given her a specific place. She wandered around the castle for a good half hour, checking the Library, which was closed, the Great Hall, which was locked for the night, and an assortment of different halls. Finally, she decided to check Madame Hooch's room, where he had told her to meet him in his note.  
  
She reached the door at length, and found it to be shut. A light was coming from the other side, though. Was she supposed to knock? Finally, she decided to knock and keep the Invisibility Cloak on. If it was Draco, she could just take it off and walk in, and if it weren't, she would be unseen. Taking in a deep breath, she extended her fist and knocked softly twice.  
  
She took a big step back, and after a few moments, the door slowly opened, but she found no one to be there. She looked inside, and saw him sitting on the teacher's desk again, flipping through a Quidditch book. He probably took their losing game pretty hard again, and was looking for new strategies. Fae took off the cloak and became visible again. He stood up and walked to her.  
  
Stepping inside, she realized that it was much brighter than last time. There was a fire going and it lit up the room. All the blinds were open this time, too, and the drafts of moonlight spilled onto the floor, mixing creamy, milk-white with the golden yellow of the fire.  
  
"Why did you want to talk to me?" she finally asked, breaking the awkward silence.  
  
"Can I not just enjoy your company, Fae?"  
  
She felt herself blushing and looked down at the floor. Subject change! Quick! Subject change! Clearing her throat, she thought of something lame to say.  
  
"Do you live in here or something?"  
  
He snorted, folding his arms and kept his patented grin on his face. "I come here a lot when I need to be alone, or at least during the winter. When it's spring or summer I go out to the lake." He said, and she wondered just why he was telling her all of this. He sat down on the floor before the fire, and she stood for a minute before he invited her to seat her self by his side. They talked about things for a while, but what he said next made her completely forget what their prior topic had been.  
  
"Why is Potter being such a prat to you?" his question was blunt.  
  
Shifting uncomfortably, she finally crossed her legs. "I.. really don't know. He was doing this even before the whole Dark Mark incident." She turned to look at him. "Do you think I did it?"  
  
He shook his head. "I know that you didn't do it."  
  
Fae stared into the fire; she was a bit of a Pyro, and was soon transfixed. After a long silence, she suddenly felt something on her hand. Looking down, she saw that it was his index finger, gently caressing her ring finger ever so slightly; she almost couldn't feel anything. She felt her face grow hot, but didn't do anything. It went on like that for a few minutes, neither of them saying anything. Eventually, his entire hand was over hers. She didn't know if she liked it or not, although she soon found herself to be dozing of, and swaying slightly before regaining consciousness. She looked at the clock: it was nearing twelve midnight and she stifled a yawn.  
  
"I'd better be getting back. I don't know what they'll think if they find me asleep in the same room as Draco Malfoy." She winced at her own words.  
  
He didn't say anything, only looked up at her for a few moments, and then finally stood up. Once again, Fae had put her own foot in her mouth. He didn't say anything about it though, which she guessed was a good sign. Making their way to the door, she started to put her Invisibility Cloak on, but he stopped her by putting his hand on her arm.  
  
"Meh?" she said, and turned to face him. However, he put his hand on the back of her head and pressed his mouth against hers.  
  
Her first reaction would have been to break free from his grasp, if he hadn't cornered her against the wall. She didn't know what to do, really, so she let him take control as he slid his arm around her waist. Finally, she shut her eyes and kissed him back as he gripped the sleeves of her shirt. He was pushing her against the wall and pulling her closer all at once. He pressed her back harder against the gray stone and she arched forward into him, and then blushed. She hadn't meant to do that.. But she was soon distracted, as she felt like she couldn't breath for a moment, her tiny body crushed under his. Draco's lips were very, very cold on hers, and his tongue wasn't any warmer. She felt as if he was putting a melting ice cube in her mouth. It was so comfortably uncomfortable.. so impurely pure.. being wrong had never, ever felt so right.  
  
He broke the kiss, and she was surprised to find herself disappointed. He smirked down at her and raised his eyebrows expectantly. "I won't tell if you won't."  
  
A small smile crept across her face, and she nodded. He bent down and kissed her once more, gently and short this time. "Happy Christmas, Fae."  
  
+ + +  
  
The two spent a lot of time together over the rest of the break. It mainly consisted of them using Madame Hooch's classroom to be together, because they both thought it best to not have too much public display of affection. He seemed to like kissing her a lot, although she wasn't complaining. Something about his mouth feeling like ice made her feel better. just, better about her self. She just wondered how long they were planning on keeping their relationship completely secret. She guessed she would call it a relationship-they had yet to say the three words, but they held hands and kissed and more, and that was considered a relationship by her book. Well, she didn't have to wait very long.  
  
+ + +  
  
When the break was over, and many tired, drowsy and disappointed students were returning to Hogwarts after the New Year ("Woo! '95!"), Fae dreaded going back to her normal life. She had gotten so used to the two weeks alone with Draco that she had forgotten about people and their nicknames for her: "Bucket", "Spawn of Voldemort" and the latest, "Man-Hating Dyke". She had acquired this after the Dark Mark was found, and everyone soon found her quite 'manly' because of the way she dressed. Kind of funny, they didn't think anything about her being un-straight, until after the rumors started spreading and after she beat up a boy.  
  
Throughout her Potions class, she was thinking about Draco. He was so cold.. and dark.. she loved it. He was the first thing she thought about when she woke up, she wrote songs and poetry about him in her diary, though she'd never tell. She felt butterflies every time she even thought of him, he made her feel safe and secure, and he had never pushed her to do anything. As far as they had gone together was fine with her, and the few times he did something she didn't want him to, he'd stop right after she told him. They had only gone as far as 'making out', as some people would call it, though.  
  
Finally, the seemingly endless class let out, and she might as well have sprinted to Care of Magical Creatures. She was anxious to see Draco, and as she twisted her way through the crowd, she finally caught a glance of him walking by himself. She ran up to him and clasped her hand on his shoulder, and he whirled around. He seemed nervous and jumpy, but his face softened a little when he saw her.  
  
"Hey!" she said happily, and leaned in to kiss his cheek.  
  
Surprisingly, he backed away and flicked his eyes at the many students passing by. She looked disappointed for a minute, and he met her eyes again jerked his head to his right. He walked in that direction and around a corner, where no students were going to or coming from. She followed after him and found him leaning against the wall and walked to him.  
  
"Why..?" Fae couldn't find words; she was very, very confused.  
  
He put his hand on her cheek. "I'm sorry about that. It's just.. you know what will happen if anyone sees us together, right?" She nodded, but found that she couldn't meet his eyes. He lifted his hand and ran his icy fingertips over her forehead and down onto her neck. "I just don't want Potter and his fan club to give you hell. Much less any of the Slytherins, and you know that little pug girl would do something again." He said, referring to Pansy.  
  
She nodded again and looked into his eyes. "You're right. I wasn't thinking.. sorry about that."  
  
"No reason to be sorry." He said, and briefly kissed her. "See you next period." He grinned and then strode off.  
  
Fae sighed; it was going to take some time for her to adjust to this.  
  
Winter slowly melted into spring, much to Fae's dislike. She didn't really care much for the bitter cold. A chill was nice, because she was just weird like that, but she didn't really like the humid first few weeks of spring until it got to the right temperature. It had passed that though, and it was nearing March.  
  
Draco would mutter "mudblood" when she walked by, and she would flip him off or reply with a simple "blow me." But during class when no one else was looking, she'd cast him glances. Although he was usually too engrossed in his work to notice, he sometimes looked back at her and his eyes would flash mischievously, and that was what kept her hanging on. That she knew that there was still something there. That and on Valentine's Day, he had actually left her a single black rose on her bed. And she had felt awful for that: she assumed that he wouldn't be doing anything for her, so she neglected to buy him a gift. Although he assured her that just she going to meet him in Hooch's classroom, and just to be able to kiss her was enough for him.  
  
+ + +  
  
Since Fae had been good for the rest of the semester before the Winter Break, she started back with a clean slate. She was so tempted to beat that little Pansy Parkinson's tail, but McGonagall had specifically told her one day that just one more detention for physical fighting would land her a suspension, and she would be right back where she started again: on the verge of being expelled. It was all so confusing to Fae, so she decided to just be on the safe side and not beat any one up.  
  
However, her verbal fighting didn't cease with Ron by any means. She found herself to be getting very annoyed when she was around anyone but Draco, especially him. They were caught bickering constantly over something completely idiotic-Fae had actually forgotten what it was, but she was sure Hermione would never let her live it down either way-when Professor Flitwick silenced them angrily with the threat of deduction of house points and detention. They silenced and gave each other the finger as soon as the Professor had turned his back.  
  
Fae was ranting to Draco about her problems as he flipped through a Quidditch book. They were outside one weekend in a corner of the garden that was overlooking the lake. They had made sure to find a place very, very far back where no one would see them, and had turned that into a place to go during the daytime, now that it was getting warmer. She was pacing back and forth across the grass, throwing a pebble in the lake every now and then, just to express her anger. Draco was seated on a tree branch just over her head, every now and then nodding, pretending to be listening.  
  
She sighed angrily and threw another rock in the lake, and for a moment wondered just what lie on the bottom. Then she remembered how annoying Ron had been, and turned around to look up at Draco. He seemed to not have been listening at all.  
  
"Potter said anything to you about Quidditch practice?"  
  
Fae narrowed her eyes and sighed. "No, he hasn't." she said, and folded her arms. So he probably hadn't been listening. He was probably just determined to improve his team, though. It wasn't so wrong.was it? After a moment of silence, she pressed on.  
  
"But wouldn't you think they'd quit practicing? I mean, the season's over."  
  
"Is Weasley still with that girl?" he ignored her previous question by asking his own.  
  
"Tracy? Yeah."  
  
"Hmm."  
  
She turned around to face him again, and he didn't even look up. After a few minutes and he still didn't return her stare, she fidgeted and cleared her throat.  
  
"Well I have some Potions homework." She said, which was actually true. "I guess I should go work on that before I be a protagonist and put it off."  
  
He smirked, and finally lowered the book from his face. She saw that it had all kinds of markings and highlights in it as he let it fall into his lap, its pages still open. He dropped down, landing soft on his feet. He walked over to her, meeting her halfway and putting his hands on her hips. She forced a smile as he kissed her, the familiar coldness starting at her lips and traveling throughout her entire body. His tongue parted her lips, but suddenly stopped where it was:  
  
There was a rustling noise coming from behind Draco, and she broke the kiss to look over his shoulder. He whipped his head around and they both caught a glance of Ron's red hair disappearing behind a rosebush.  
  
"Weasley." Draco glared, immediately letting go of Fae. She stumbled forward; she had been leaning on him, but caught her balance. Draco started to run after him, but she grabbed him by his arm.  
  
"Wait." She said, and he stopped. He turned around at her, his anger still reflecting in his eyes. Fae looked like she was taken back for a minute, but then stopped. "If you hurt him, it'll just drive him to tell people."  
  
"Well he's gonna tell either way." He spat coolly.  
  
"Maybe, but we have a better chance this way. Just let it go."  
  
He turned his head around once more and sighed, then back to her. "I suppose that makes sense." He said, and winked. "Good luck on your homework."  
  
"Thanks, I'll need it." She retorted.  
  
+ + +  
  
Fae's idea did work, almost. It seemed that Ron had neglected to tell anyone, but he did confront her about it, in front of Hermione. So he kind of told someone.  
  
It was once again during Professor Flitwick's class, and he had mentioned something about Draco being a top student in his class during a lecture. Fae held her breath, praying silently that Ron wouldn't say anything, but of course, he did.  
  
"Ah, well, Fae would know that, wouldn't she?" he mumbled.  
  
"What?" Hermione asked before she could stop herself. She was sitting right beside her, and Ron was seated at the desk before him. He turned around and nodded at Fae.  
  
"Ask her. She can tell you." He said.  
  
Hermione blinked, and turned to her for the briefest of moments, before turning back around. He kept pushing it, though. "Oh, come now, Fae. You're not going to deny it, are you? I'm sure Malfoy would be disappointed."  
  
His words stung, but only because she knew that Draco wouldn't care-he seemed to not care about anything but Quidditch lately. She swallowed the knot in her throat and kept looking past him at the Professor, trying to ignore him. "Shhh! Ron!" Hermione was hissing, but he kept going any way.  
  
"Unless, of course, he's just trying to get some pus-"  
  
In an instant Fae's wand was out and aimed directly at his face. Her gray eyes were on fire but kept her jaw clenched tightly. He looked surprised for a minute, and Hermione looked as if she were about to have a seizure.  
  
"Mr Weasley, Ms O'Connor!" Professor Flitwick screeched. She quickly lowered her wand; it was blocked from his view, but she didn't want to risk it. However, her eyes didn't tear from him as he turned around quickly in his seat.  
  
"Is it too much to ask for you to pay attention?" The very short professor was obviously angry; he had already been in a bad mood, due to the lecture he was giving the class, and this just added on.  
  
Fae didn't say anything, her eyes still narrowed at the back of Ron's head, whose ears were turning quite pink with anger and embarrassment.  
  
"I'm sick of your constant bickering, you're both acting like children! I'll be speaking to Professor Dumbledore about your detention task, and you should have one within the next few weeks. As for now, please take your seats outside."  
  
Ron sighed irritably and rolled his head back, and Fae slammed her books down on her desk before gathering them up again and storming out of the room. She slammed the door behind her, causing half the class to jump, and Ron opened it shortly after and walked out the hall. He saw Fae slumped against the wall, and saw her sink down to her haunches as he paced before her. It seemed very familiar: like when he accused her of creating the Dark Mark. She didn't give him a chance to yell at her first, this time.  
  
"You can't just leave things alone, can you?" she said quietly, looking at her knees. He stopped pacing and looked down at her, but didn't say anything. So she went on. "I just don't understand how you can get so much pleasure out of knowing that you're making someone's life a living hell."  
  
He just looked at her, a sudden hatred filling his eyes. She looked up at him and put on a sarcastic face of sudden realization. "Oh, wait, I think I know. Maybe it's because you have your own insecurities, and you have your own paranoia. So you try to cover it up by accusing someone else of having them, and treating them horribly."  
  
He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He still looked like he wanted to jab a knife through her throat, and if there had been one just lying around, she wouldn't put it past him. She kept pressing with her final question, suddenly just wanting to get everything out. "What did I ever do to you?"  
  
He didn't have time to answer, as the door opened and Professor Flitwick bustled out of the classroom with annoyance. They sighed, and he told Ron to have a seat, which meant another one of his long lectures. He sat down across from Fae as Flitwick sighed, and started up on his lecture. They were to probably have detention sometime together, although their task was undecided. He assured, however, that whatever it was would be to push them to get along together. This received a sigh from either side of him, but he raised a silencing hand. After his speech was over, they were asked to join the classroom again. On the way in, Fae could feel Ron's eyes on her, and she took her seat silently. Neither of them spoke another word for the rest of the class, and Fae wasn't sure about him, but she didn't say anything for the entire day. 


	9. Hate Every Beautiful Day

Fae and Draco didn't speak for a while afterward, not even to pretend to hate each other. She was so stressed out that she was afraid that she would blow up on him and say something she regretted. He made no attempts to see her, either. She supposed this was good, but after a week or so, she figured he might ask her what was wrong. But then again, maybe he was thinking the same thing about her.  
  
March 16 Ron's been trying to make things as hard as possible for me, although he's somewhat backed off lately. I can't stand that boy. He's never happy unless I'm unhappy. And what's worse, he doesn't even know what he thinks I did to him to make him hate me so much; he tries to cover it up like he just doesn't want to tell me, but I know he has no idea either. It's like he just picked me out of a crowd and decided 'hey, I'm going to hate this girl! All right! I'm so hardcore!' Believe it or not, stuff like what does to me actually stings. I can't think what's wrong with me. I know I like Draco; I like him a lot. But the last time I talked to him, which was a few weeks ago, it was like he didn't even care what I had to say. He was too engrossed in his Quidditch book. But I guess that's understandable.he's captain of the team. He has responsibility. It's no big deal. I think. I know I'm too easy; I know it.. I know it.. Faelyinne  
  
Finally, she went running to him. She sent him in owl begging him to meet her in Hooch's room. She told him everything, about what Ron had said, what she had done with the wand, how angry she was, and that they'd have to serve detention together. She was so frustrated with everything that she was on the brim of tears. But she had this weird thing where even if she wanted to start crying in front of anyone-which she really didn't-she couldn't. If she had been already crying and saw someone, it wouldn't make a difference. But she couldn't just break down crying in front of everyone, which she was thankful for. She was too proud, too worried about looking weak in front of everyone.  
  
After she had finished her story, Draco looked angry. "Weasley's going to get his ass kicked, if I can do something about it." He spat, narrowing his eyes. He seemed more concerned with if Ron was going to get his, rather than her entire story.  
  
"No, don't do that.." she said, "I don't want you expelled."  
  
His face softened somewhat, and he walked to her to wrap his icy arms around her tiny structure. She might as well have been lying in a snow bank, and she shivered. He kissed the top of her head and ran a pale finger down her face. Nothing was said. No words of comfort or anything, but she still felt considerably better. He left cold kisses down her neck, and she laughed mentally at the thought of instead of him ever leaving hickeys, leaving patches of ice on her throat and collarbone.  
  
Somehow, she ended up sitting on a desk, as he leaned up against it and continued to kiss her. She found that she was against a wall, so she leaned back comfortably. He got closer to her and put his hands on her lower back, and started tracing the tip of his tongue at her collarbone. She let her head fall back and looked up at the ceiling, just glad that she had him to relieve her stress with.  
  
She felt his hands moving, and then slide under the tail of her shirt. Her eyes fluttered open in surprise until his hands stopped moving, and slowly shut them again. After a few seconds, they started traveling up her back and stopped. As soon as she felt his fingers toying around with the hook on the back of her undergarments, she stopped abruptly and leaned away from him, nearly crushing his hand between her backbone and the wall.  
  
"What are you doing..?" she said softly, as he removed his hand.  
  
He looked shocked for a minute, and finally shook his head. "I'm sorry, Fae, I don't know what I was doing." He said, and backed away.  
  
She didn't say anything, but only looked at her shoes. For a long time there was silence, as a question was itching at Fae's throat, like the only way to make it stop was to just ask it. She knew it was nothing of her concern, but she had to know. Finally, before she could stop herself, she blurted out:  
  
"Draco, are you a virgin?"  
  
She clasped a hand over her mouth and her eyes went wide. She could have sworn he turned a little pale himself. He stared at her with a blank expression for a while, and she swallowed.  
  
"I'm sorry. It's absolutely none of my business. I don't know what came over me.just forget it," She said, mentally having to stop herself from rambling on.  
  
He shook his head again. "No, no, it's completely fine. I guess you do have a right to know, you being my.." he never finished his sentence, and finally met her eyes. "No, Fae, I'm not a virgin."  
  
She had to fight from gasping, as she literally bit her tongue. He wasn't? But he had only turned fifteen a few months ago.. he had to have been young when this happened. She completely steered away from the thought that he could have done this while he was with her, and thought about her other options. She didn't even want to ask when and with whom, as that was even worse than just asking if he was pure.  
  
He didn't ask if she was or not, and hoped he didn't think that she wasn't a virgin. She had morals; although she had tried quite a few things in her time, and she had been on some Muggle drug a while ago, she was a virgin and had been completely clean ever since just before she got her acceptance letter for Hogwarts.  
  
They didn't say much for a while, and Fae finally excused herself. There were no goodnight kisses that evening as she walked back to the common room. She could have been a film shot in slow motion; she was so lost in her thoughts she was unaware to how sluggishly she was moving down the corridors.  
  
+ + +  
  
March eventually turned into April. The twins really enjoyed this; April Fools Day was their favorite holiday, and they made sure to celebrate it to the fullest. Nose-Biting Teacups, Exploding Wands, Ton-Tongue Toffees, and some more of their original creations made their day all the better. Creations such as ones disguised as Bertie Bot's Beans that gave you nosebleeds, and Quills that turned into big, ugly toads-he used one of these on Ginny, and received a punch in the arm.  
  
Fae was lucky that she hadn't been a victim at all that day. She hadn't spoken to Draco in almost a month now, and she finally decided to see what was up. She was tired of being alone, aside from Pluto and her guitar, and thought that she'd enjoy some of his company.  
  
Just the thought of him lifted her spirits that Saturday morning, when she decided that she'd surprise him by showing up where he'd most likely be: the lake. However, as she got there, she wished she had never gone.  
  
Tracy and Ron were standing at the edge, and she had him up against a tree. She couldn't really see him because she was directly behind the tree from afar. But she figured that's who she was all over, considering that's who she was always on. But as she got close enough, she heard voices.  
  
"He's telling me everything, the little prat." She was saying, while laughing. Fae noticed that her voice was most definitely not a Southern American one any more. It sounded like any ordinary English accent; she guessed that she had acquired it from staying here. "I've got him wrapped around my little finger; he'll tell me anything I ask him to. Did you know Harry had a tremendous fear of the Dementors?"  
  
The next voice she heard made her stop in her tracks. "I figured Potter was scared of them.he's always so panicky when they're even mentioned."  
  
The person had just referred to Harry by his last name. Potter..Potter.. The voice echoed in her mind as she jumped behind a tree. Draco! She peered out behind her hiding place and saw that Tracy was, in fact, all over 'Draco'.  
  
No, it can't be him! Tracy doesn't even know him! But he said he knew of her..  
  
The more she thought about it, the more possible it seemed. What little thread of optimism she had left was finally cut when she saw Tracy grab onto his hands and pull him towards her. A flash of bleach blonde gleamed in the sun as she placed his hands on her hips. Fae swallowed the knot in her throat as a thousand thoughts and flashbacks came hurtling at her.  
  
"Not here, love, someone might see us." He said, but kissed her neck any way.  
  
"Oh, you know you want me," She teased. "Weasley thinks I'm asleep and he's studying. Besides, you've got your little 'girlfriend' around your finger too. Even if she did see us, she'd probably come begging you to take her back."  
  
"Shh," he said, and put a finger to her lips.  
  
She gave him a devilish look before closing her mouth around it and pulling it deep into her throat. His eyes glazed over and she pulled it out, and then ran her tongue up its length. Fae could only stare. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She felt like someone had just thrown a brick straight at her head, and everything was a blur. Everything he had ever told her had been a lie. He was only with her to get information on his rival. It all started to make sense: why he brought up Quidditch and Harry so much, why he asked about Tracy, how he knew about Harry's invisibility cloak, why he had been talking to a Gryffindor in the first place. The most heart-wrenching one was her sudden realization to just where his virginity had gone to: the perfect girl with the modeling face and body. And Fae was thoroughly disgusted with herself to say that she had fallen for him.  
  
They were now kissing passionately: more passionately than he had ever kissed her. He was holding her close and running his hands through her hair, then he'd move over to her neck and she'd bite his ear. She suddenly wondered if this had been going on the entire time they were together: if he was always two-timing her, and she was always two-timing Ron.  
  
Finally deciding that she couldn't watch any longer, she walked briskly back into the castle, fighting to not think about what she just had the displeasure of witnessing. But how could she not? The two of them together was a knife in her back, and every time she subconsciously replayed it in her mind, the knife twisted and drove in further. She wiped her face as she came into the Gryffindor common room. She was so sick of everyone seeing her cry. Seeing her weak. she hated looking weak in front of everyone: she wanted to be strong and she wanted everyone to think that she was strong.  
  
There were quite a few people scattered throughout the room, but no one took too much notice to her when she entered with her head lowered. But as she made her way up the stairs, she heard the door swing open again and someone walk in after her. Just as she reached her door, she heard the sound of many papers spilling across the floor and then a voice, "Oh, bloody hell.."  
  
Ron.  
  
She had completely forgotten about him. He had been played too, and he was most likely unaware. He was whistling as he picked up the papers, signifying his good mood. There was no way he had found out about Tracy and Draco. Tracy and Draco..  
  
Ron was going to have to find out about it some how. Even though he had treated her like dirt-lower, even-and she felt that he needed a serious reality check, she didn't want him to find out the hard way. Which, of course, would be to walk in on them as she had done. Although there was the possibility that he could walk in on them doing something much worse; she wouldn't put it past that little slut. But the thing that Fae really wanted to know the most was. Did Draco ever really love her?  
  
She knew the answer, but she was far, far too afraid to admit it. So she would live in her own dream for a while, she decided. And figured that maybe she'd wake up and realize that was all it had been.  
  
+ + +  
  
Tracy hadn't said a word to Ron about any of this, and was still all over him in their Potions class. Her fake little accent was back, and she was playing the innocent country-belle girlfriend again. Fae kept quiet throughout the entire day, and she seemed in a daze. Although it wasn't much different than her normal appearance, people still noticed a change.  
  
She couldn't even bring herself to look at Draco. Luckily, her inability to cry in public kept him unaware that she had found out. She felt his eyes on her a few times, but she kept her own glued to her paper, or her shoes if she was walking at the time. She knew she had to let him know some time, but she just wasn't strong enough right then.  
  
She wasn't strong enough.. she was weak.  
  
Violete seemed to notice the change in her. She came over to the table she shared with Hermione in Potions while Snape was busy chewing out some terrified Gryffindor Third-Years.  
  
"Are you okay?" she asked. "You look really, really depressed."  
  
Fae looked up at her, trying to hide her anger towards everyone and everything. She thought of what she would have liked to say: I'm fine, Violete! I just saw my boyfriend cheating on me with the one girl I can't stand. No, no, not Avril Lavigne, silly. Someone I loathe entirely; I'm talking about Tracy Carerre. Yeah, I saw her shove her tongue down his throat the other day, as well as his finger down hers. Yes, I know! I know! I knew she was a dirty thieving little slut, too! And I also realized that the entire time he was with me, and even before, they've been, yes, FUCKING THE LIFE OUT OF EACH OTHER-  
  
"Fae!" Violete said, waving her hand in front of her eyes. She blinked, and Violete asked her question again.  
  
"Oh..uh, yeah. I'm fine." That was probably the worst lie she had ever told. Violete stared right through her with a raised eyebrow. Fae glanced sideways at Hermione in panic. Violete nodded understandingly, assuming that she and Hermione had been in a fight and that's all it was. Oh, if it were only so.  
  
+ + +  
  
Professor Flitwick announced the detention that following Wednesday, in front of the entire class. It was to be held the next day. When he said this, Fae saw Ron tense up and his ears grow pink. He was obviously just as annoyed about this as she was. And now, after seeing what had happened with Draco and Tracy, she was going to have to put up with the second thing she hated more than anything in the world: him.  
  
Thursday came all too soon, as Fae and Ron found themselves being lead around Hogwarts by Albus Dumbledore. They were lead into the Detention room and were instructed to sit side by side. Ron mumbled something and pulled out a random chair from a desk, and sat down, stubbornly folding his arms. Fae did so also, just as stubbornly. Dumbledore only smiled, and she began to grow uneasy: he looked like he had something evil planned. He politely asked them to each put the hand they don't write with up on the desktop. They did so, and he chuckled, commenting on how fortunate they were that Ron was left-handed, while Fae was right-handed. They gave each other a confused glance, before remembering that they were supposed to be angry at each other, and looked away stubbornly.  
  
"Now." Dumbledore said. "I do not wish to hear any complaining. Rest assured, the both of you certainly deserve this." He took out his wand, and Fae thought for one wild moment that he was about to cut off their hands. Instead, he pointed it and muttered, "Evencio."  
  
A thread of green sparks circled around their wrists, and shining green light bound their hands together. Their eyes widened as they realized what was going to happen. A whimper escaped Ron's throat as they started yanking their hands around, trying to break grip from the magical handcuffs. He pulled too hard as she stumbled to her feet, she being much shorter, and pulled back. They eventually ended up tripping and falling, as Ron looked up, panicked.  
  
"It won't come off!"  
  
Fae rolled her eyes. "It's not supposed to, dumb-ass." She retorted, and they both sat up.  
  
He looked up nervously at Dumbledore, who only nodded at Fae. "She is correct, Ronald." He said, and she sniggered at his full name. The Headmaster looked at her, the sparkle in his eyes dying down, "Although I believe her cursing needs some work."  
  
Now it was Ron's turn to laugh.  
  
She ignored him. "Sir, how long are we going to be.." she lifted her hand and rattled it, as Ron's involuntarily did the same, "..stuck?"  
  
"Until you can get along with each other." He said.  
  
Ron wailed dramatically and dropped back down onto the floor. "We're going to be stuck like this forever!"  
  
"Quit whining, you little prat." Fae glared, and they felt the handcuffs start to vibrate. They both looked down just as the chain connecting the two cuffs contracted abruptly, causing them to crack heads.  
  
Ron painfully pressed his hand against where it had made contact with Fae. "You did that on purpose!" he shouted at the inanimate object binding their wrists. Fae opened her mouth to say something, but quickly shut it and just shook her head, not wanting another knock on her skull.  
  
Dumbledore chuckled. "Ah, yes." He said, sounding quite pleased with himself. "I added some little surprises here and there. I'm sure you all know how you'll find them the hard way, so I would be careful to stay away from doing so, if I were in your place. But I'm not, of course." He chuckled again and turned his back to them, seeming to enjoy other peoples' misery.  
  
"There's a spell on it for it to break as soon as one of you enters the bathrooms or dormitories, don't worry. But as soon as you step out of there it will go right back together. I wouldn't try to get into one of those rooms and run, either, because it would promptly drag you across the school grounds until you are connected again.  
  
I assure you," he said, as he made his way towards the door. "Your rewards will be very, very beneficial." The door shut behind him, and Fae gave it the death glare.  
  
There was a long silence, and then Fae finally spoke. "What does he want us to do..?"  
  
She only received an angry shrug.  
  
"Should we leave?"  
  
He turned around and gave her the meanest look he could muster up, and then sighed irritably. "You realize this means we have to go everywhere together, right?"  
  
"Not everywhere.."  
  
He just looked at her like she was a worthless insect, and  
  
She narrowed her eyes. If he was going to be a prat to her, she wasn't going to let him off easily, either. "Listen, Weasley-"  
  
"What did you just call me?" he practically hissed.  
  
She immediately shut her mouth, knowing she was in for it. Being around Draco, she had started calling he and Harry by their last names. Draco..  
  
"You've been around Malfoy too much." He started. "Although I don't even see why you'd want to be around someone as self-centered and arrogant as him.." she looked up at him as if she wanted to rip his throat out. "What, now you don't want me talking bad about him? Did you stop him any time he called Hermione a mudblood? What about the countless times he's insulted Harry? Did you stop him then, or is he more important to you than-"  
  
"Do you ever take a moment to consider?" she shouted, trying to inform him that she and Draco were no longer together without actually having to say it. Of course, he didn't get it, and only returned her question with a blank stare. "Forget it." She mumbled, "Let's just get out of here."  
  
It was after dinner, and they had no classes for the rest of the day. The two headed up to the Gryffindor common room, where they could depart into their separate dormitories. Ron seemed to be worried that someone was going to see them-particularly Tracy-as they climbed up the stairs. They didn't say anything, but every time their hands or fingers touched they'd either glare at the other or sigh irritably.  
  
They reached the fat lady and Ron muttered the password. Fae saw her looking them up and down and then glancing at the spell binding their hands together. Her portrait swung open as she tried to hide her laughter from them. They both rolled their eyes and were greeted by nearly the entire Gryffindor house seated in the common room. The two stopped awkwardly for a moment as Fred was grinning from ear to ear.  
  
"McGonagall told us." He said, hiding a snicker. More echoed throughout the common room, and things only got even more awkward.  
  
Ron raised his hand to flip him off, accidentally using the one that was bound to Fae. This, of course, only caused the others to laugh more. She snorted and dragged him up the stairs as she went into her dormitory. The chain connecting their handcuffs broke, but the cuffs themselves stayed on their wrists, as if reminding them what waited for them just when they step outside the dorms.  
  
Fae checked the clock sitting on the small table by her bedside. It was only seven o'clock. She sighed and pulled out a piece of parchment to begin a letter home. She hadn't written one recently, and seemed like something to do. She wrote, putting on a mask of enjoying her year at Hogwarts, and leaving everything out about Draco. She did mention, however, her punishment with Ron and just what she had to do. Leaving out some sparing details that would probably get her into a lot of trouble, she read her letter over. Finally, she added a post-script (P.S.):  
  
Da, I'm about to go crazy with all these complicated wizard sweets..they always run away or explode or something. Can you send me some good old Muggle candy, like some Poprocks? PLEASE.  
  
She looked at her letter, satisfied with its contents, and pulled out her guitar from its case. She would send the letter to the owlry later. As she was doing so, she peered across the room. Pluto and Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, were curled up in the orange tabby cat's bed together, sleeping soundly. The corner of her mouth twitched in a lame attempt at a smile. Her shoving her pick in between her lips, however, soon covered it.  
  
She would admit that she had really written the letter to take her mind off of Draco. And being attached to Ron for who knows how long just added on to the stress. She took out her notebook and decided that she'd have to get this out the best way she could: writing. 


	10. Things Couldn't Possibly Get Worse

"Move!" Ron bellowed.  
  
"You move!"  
  
"I can't! Your bloody leg is around mine!"  
  
Fae rolled her eyes. "Oh, you caught me, Ron. I was hoping you wouldn't notice while I was feeling you up," she pressed her shoulder against his in a lame attempt at a shove.  
  
The two of them had gotten themselves into a nice little mess. In an attempt to perform a charm to get the handcuffs off, it had only backfired and caused their entire bodies to be in a mass of entwined limbs, and they were stretching and bending ways they weren't supposed to be. After they had tried to hop their way out the door of the empty classroom, they found themselves to be stuck in the doorway. And it is here that we join them.  
  
"I wouldn't put it past you," Ron mumbled something about 'horny Irish girls'.  
  
She snorted. "Don't flatter yourself, Weasley, I'm not that desperate."  
  
"Again with the last name!" he said, and went off in a rant about her supposedly still hanging around with Draco too much. This had been about a week later, and he still had no idea of what had happened. As he continued with his livid vocalizations, she only shook her head, not bothering to listen to any of it.  
  
To put things bluntly, Fae had turned into quite the little horror since she had seen Draco and Tracy together. She had somewhat grown used to the idea that she wasn't seeing things, but wasn't fully accepting that she had been cheated on. Instead, she turned things upside down and suddenly hated everyone and everything in an attempt to keep her ego up. There weren't too many people in the school who thought fond thoughts of her, but then again she felt the same way.  
  
She guessed that his speech was done, because he was now yelling at her for something else. He was squirming, being sandwiched in between Fae and the doorframe as he shouted obscenities. Finally, he pushed hard enough and knocked her off her feet. Of course her leg was still stuck around him, and he fell down with her. She crashed over him, and as he brought her arm down to break his fall, hers was pulled back behind her head and nearly popped out of its socket. She let out a loud gasp as she fell on him with most of her weight. As if things weren't bad enough, the spell got worse and his leg snapped up and wound around her waist.  
  
"Ron!" she shrieked as she tried to keep her face as far away from his as possible. "Get your leg off of me, you sick bastard!"  
  
He glared at her. "Oh yes, and I'm having a lovely time too!" She glowered back as he heaved a sigh and rolled his eyes. "I'm not doing it on purpose, dumb-ass! It's part of the handcuff spell."  
  
Her face flushed scarlet; of course it was part of the spell. Well, that took care of her stupid deed of the day. "Well, Weasley," she spat, calling him by last name again just to irk him, "Since you obviously must have some fockin' brilliant plan to get us out of this mess, why don't you just put in your two cents."  
  
"Yeah, I have an idea." His ears had turned from pink, to red. "Get the hell off of me so I'll know you're not getting some kind of sick joy out of this."  
  
She would have slapped him if she could have as a look of sheer disgust crossed over her features. "Ugh! Pog mah thoin, Weasley*!"  
  
He looked at her as if she had just told her he loved her-which is a very confused and surprised look, if you will. "What did you just say?"  
  
She sneered. "Wouldn't you like to know? Aye, too bad you English don't have your own little language."  
  
He looked at her, looking half confused and half all knowing "Yes we do. English is a language."  
  
Her jaw dropped open as the most genuine 'You-are-the-most-stupid-boy-I- have-ever-had-the-displeasure-of-knowing' look crossed her face. She opened her mouth to point this out, but instead just decided to let him think he had won and settled with "Right. Well. I'm going to try to stand up, and try to keep your leg from staying latched around me."  
  
He rolled his eyes as she pressed her free hand against the ground and attempted to raise herself. She got a few feet before his leg stopped her, and she collapsed back down. He wheezed and she muttered an apology- although she found it humorous-and tried it again. After the second or third time, she had managed to at least sit up right, but they appeared to be in a suggestive position, as her seat was his pelvic bone.  
  
"Ouch, Fae! Get up!"  
  
"You think I want to be stuck like this?"  
  
Silence. He gave her a suggestive look as she swatted at his head, and he winced.  
  
"You're so egotistical, Weasley! " She growled, this being the third time she had called him that since they had been stuck in the doorway. "Why don't you try to get up? I don't see you trying to do anything."  
  
"Believe me, this is harder than it looks."  
  
"Hmm, well, I wouldn't know. Unlike you, I wasn't looking," she said, re- paying him for his crack on her earlier. It took him a few seconds, but he finally got the perverseness of her joke and scowled.  
  
"Well it's true; just the act of having you on me like this is torturing enough," she shot him an evil glare as she grasped onto the door handle.  
  
She smells like good.. for a crazy drunken Irish woman, he thought stubbornly.  
  
Fae gripped the handle and managed to pull herself off of him. He slowly rose after her, and after a few more minutes of arguing, they teetered back into the room and were untangled.  
  
"Ha!" Ron said triumphantly, pointing at the doorway. "In your face!"  
  
Fae ignored the fact that the door was the second inanimate object he had addressed aside since they had first received their handcuffs. Seconds later, students flooded the hallways and they trudged reluctantly to their Divination class.  
  
+ + +  
  
Lavender Brown was in the girls' dormitories when Fae came in, glaring at the shining green cuff on her wrist. Ever since she and Ron had acquired that stupid thing, she hadn't been able to avoid the teasing. They were often mistaken to be holding hands in the halls. And when they had to do something in class that required using both hands, they had extreme difficulties. Just another thing to add on to the pile of reasons everyone disliked her and teased her.  
  
The first thing when she entered, Lavender scoffed and Fae flipped her off. The two of them had not gotten along at all throughout the entire year, and after Fae had been getting into trouble and been accused of creating the Dark Mark, things had gotten even worse. They were always competing to be better, but Fae knew it was kind of a lost cause. Lavender was materialistic and shallow-minded, but she was better at everything than her. While Fae was struggling to even pass her classes, she was the second- smartest girl in the school, Hermione of course being the first. At first Fae had thought that maybe she had more musical talent than her, but when Lavender started singing a preppy little girl-band song in one of her classes, she obviously proved her wrong. Her pitch was very close, if not perfect, and she had a wide range and wonderful voice control. Fae could keep a song going, but she couldn't hit high or low notes for anything. This, of course, did nothing to help her ego. However, the next thing Lavender said made her completely forget what she had been previously thinking of.  
  
"Why did you take the sorting hat?"  
  
"What?" Her eyes were wide.  
  
Lavender rolled her eyes. "The sorting hat's been missing since the beginning of the year. I'm sure you remember Dumbledore telling us a few times that whoever found it would receive a reward. Oh, don't act like you don't know."  
  
"I'm not acting," she said sternly. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I haven't seen the hat since anyone else last has."  
  
"What are you talking about? I just saw you come up here about an hour ago and open your trunk! It was right there!"  
  
Fae looked at her as if she was an insect. "What am *I* talking about? Look at you! That's a lie, I haven't been up here since lunch time."  
  
Lavender stood up. "Are you calling me a liar?" she bellowed, throwing down the clothing magazine she had been looking at. "Hence, I said you were lying," Fae said, her breathing becoming quick.  
  
She looked to be in half disbelief. "Well go look in your trunk and refresh your memory then!" she shouted.  
  
"I have no need to, it's not fockin' in there!"  
  
"Yes, it is! I saw it!"  
  
Fae started to shout something back, but instead a look of shock crossed her face. "You looked through my stuff? What the hell do you think you were doing?"  
  
She smirked. "Professor McGonagall is coming. I alerted her as soon as I found it."  
  
"You didn't answer my question," she advanced menacingly toward the much taller girl-once again she was acting before thinking-but the door opened, and she turned around to see Professor McGonagall.  
  
"Professor! Professor!" Lavender screeched. Fae paused and slowly turned around. The professor walked in and looked at her sternly, and she didn't even bother to smile.  
  
"Miss O'Connor," she started, nodding her head. "You know that the sorting hat has disappeared since the beginning of the school year."  
  
"Aye," she said, filtering out the obscenities.  
  
She nodded, seeming to be a little uneasy. "Well, Miss Brown says that she has found that you.. were the one who stole it."  
  
"It's true, professor! Look in her trunk! I saw it!" Lavender cut in.  
  
"Is not! And what were you doing looking through my stuff any way?"  
  
"It's none of your business!"  
  
"Oh, so it's none of my business why you were looking through *my* business? Bull shi-"  
  
"Enough!" McGonagall shouted, silencing the two of them. They looked as if they were about to pop a blood vessel as they huffed a sigh and folded their arms in unison. The professor shook her head and continued. "Fae, if you will please show me your trunk to prove your innocence?"  
  
"Gladly," she spat, glaring at Lavender the entire time. She marched over to her bed, pulled her trunk out from underneath, and lifted the lid.  
  
"I told you!" Lavender screeched again, and Fae's jaw dropped.  
  
The sorting hat was folded up on top of her clothes and other belongings. She let a quiet gasp escape her throat as McGonagall's eyebrows rose; she didn't seem too surprised.  
  
"I saw her walk in here about an hour ago and open her trunk to put something away, and the hat was just sitting in there." Lavender went on.  
  
Fae shot her a death glare and then turned back to the older woman. "Professor, you can't believe all this. I.." she turned to Lavender and narrowed her eyes. "You probably put it there!" she suddenly accused.  
  
"I did not!"  
  
"Oh, right, it just happened to appear while you were alone up here by yourself," she said sarcastically, folding her arms.  
  
"I already told you twice I saw you! Why are you trying to deny it?"  
  
"Girls." Minerva raised a silencing hand. "Until this is further inspected, we cannot accuse anyone," she said, although she kept a suspicious eye on Fae. She retched inwardly at her assumptions, but only stared back at her. The professor raised an eyebrow, still watching her, and then turned and left.  
  
For a long time Fae and Lavender only glared at each other, before giving an angry and exasperated groan and going their separate ways.  
  
April 17 I really don't like this school any more. I have no friends, no one I can talk to. I thought that I did have someone, but he wasn't even really there. And even through all of this spare time I have to myself, and lack of getting fresh air, I'm still doing horribly in my classes. The OWLs were last week, and I really hope I passed. I want to leave and most likely not come back, but I know I need to get my education and graduate. I don't know how much longer I can stand being attached to Weasley, and Dumbledore still hasn't even given us an estimate of when we can get out of these damn cuffs. I just want it to be summer so I can leave. Maybe I should pretend that I'm a muggle or something and never have any use for these stupid witchy powers. Faelyn  
  
A few weeks later, something completely unexpected shocked the students of Hogwarts. Nobody knew how it happened, but they knew what they had seen. They had no idea what happened the night before, but everyone seemed extremely upset. For those who were there to experience, it brought back memories of what had happened during their second year attending the school. Some students were worried, and a few were afraid to sleep after what had happened, especially those who had been there for the second year. Two Gryffindor students were found paralyzed in the library.  
  
News buzzed around the school, and most people suspected the Slytherins. Ron, however, was trying to convince everyone that it was a Gryffindor-Fae in particular. He called Harry to the boy's dormitories, where he could speak to him without the little wretch stuck to him.  
  
"Whoever it was has to know the password," he said in a convincing tone. "And they were found in the girls dormitories, right? Well, that's one of the only places she can get to without being bound to me by that bloody spell. I'm sorry, I meant that bloody curse."  
  
He had come up with quite a few reasons it would be Fae, and all of them were very believable. Still, Harry forced himself to give her the benefit of the doubt, and made up some lame excuse why he was wrong. All he could come up with was "Well, why would she do something like that? She has nothing against those first years."  
  
Ron just sighed irritably and told him that he was still holding his ground, and nothing he said would change his mind.  
  
The next day at breakfast, Dumbledore hushed the chattering Hall. Their topic of the day was, of course, the two victims.  
  
"Quiet, quiet please," he said. After a few minutes, and no one paying him the least bit of mind, he took in a deep breath. "SILENCE!" he bellowed. This shushed them, and he smiled contently.  
  
"I am sure that all of you are aware of the incident that happened yesterday. However, I will assure you, that the Professors and I are doing our best to see that something like this will not happen again. I do not wish for any of you to worry, and there is no need to. Whoever has committed this horrible crime will be caught and found."  
  
There was silence. He had unintentionally made the students even more worried, as the gravity of the subject hit them. Dumbledore flicked a small smile and cleared his throat uneasily. "As you were," he sat back down.  
  
George smiled happily, turning back around in his seat. "See? Nothing to worry about, Lavender." He said, slinging an arm around her flirtatiously. (Fae gagged from across the table)  
  
Fred did the same with Parvati, and gave her a squeeze. She giggled, stabbing a sausage on his fork and putting it in his mouth. Fae took a notice to just how many people were becoming couples.  
  
George and Lavender flirted quite a bit now, and Fred and Parvati had recently turned out to be a couple. Ginny and Harry were madly flirting, and as far as she knew, they still liked each other and everyone knew of it, except them, ironically. Hermione had been constantly writing letters and speaking of this Viktor Krum she had been with at the Yule Ball. Then of course there was Ron and Tracy, and Tracy and Draco.  
  
Fae still hadn't confronted him of that, and she had no idea when she could. She supposed he had figured it out, seeing as to how they hadn't spoken to each other in two months. But she couldn't really do anything about it, being handcuffed to Ron. She sighed and stabbed her pancake angrily with her fork, as Neville turned and asked her if she was going to eat it, the first thing he had said to her in forever. She pushed her plate toward him and rested her chin on the table as she waited for Ron to finish his little socializing so she could leave the table.  
  
+ + +  
  
Although Dumbledore had said the matter was being taken care of, it had obviously not been. Another incident happened a few days later, with the same symptoms as the two first years, this one also from the Gryffindor house. Hermione was found lying paralyzed in her bed.  
  
She would have been judged dead on the scene, as the other two had almost been, if not for Dumbledore. She was cold to the touch, pale, and showed all signs of being dead other than a very, very small pulse. However, her wand was found next to her, and Dumbledore had performed the Prior Incantato spell to find that she had cast a spell that wasn't strong enough to kill her self. She was immediately sent to the hospital wing, and Madame Pomfrey spent hours upon hours looking her over as a nervous Harry, Ginny, Fred, George and a Fae-attached-to-a-Ron sat outside the door.  
  
Finally, Pomfrey came out with word. Hermione was okay. She was, however, in a state that was just short of being considered a coma, and there was no telling how long she would be like that. There would be no visitors for the time being, until she showed some signs of getting well. This sent all of them off, but they were eventually all shooed away.  
  
On the way back, they passed by Tracy. She ran up to Ron and grabbed him in a hug. "Oh, Ron, I'm so sorry!" her fake accent sobbed into his shoulder. He hugged her with his free arm, and Fae felt sick, angry and awkward all at once. He hadn't been around her much lately, partially because he was attached to her, and partially because she had most likely been away with Draco while she told him she was 'studying' or 'doing homework'. And he believed every word she said; the poor boy was head over heels for her.  
  
"I have to go study.. I just wanted to see if you were okay," she said, as Fae had expected. Ron nodded and she put her arms around his neck and kissed him. He kissed back, and Fae turned around and walked away as she could to her arms extent, and gagged. The twins caught her eye and they gagged back, and the three of them shared a smile. For a split second, she found herself to be missing how they could make her laugh, before Ron jerked her arm like she was his freaking dog on a leash, and they headed back toward the common room.  
  
Laugh.  
  
That was certainly something she hadn't done a lot of since some time in December.  
  
+ + +  
  
Over the next week, Hermione hadn't gotten any better. No visitors were allowed, other than her parents. They came to Hogwarts as soon as they could both get a while off from their Dentistry. Other than them and Madame Pomfrey, though, the sleeping girl received no attention. She received many flowers, cards and candies from her fellow Gryffindors, and a few other students from different houses. People were starting to wonder just how long she would be in a coma for, and there was the possibility that Hermione Granger, the smartest student in Hogwarts would fail due to lack of attendance and have to re-take her Fifth Year.  
  
A/n: *Pog Mah Thoin is Irish-Gaelic for 'Kiss my ass', if I'm correct. :D 


	11. Running Through My Head

Harry had to get up in the middle of the night; he couldn't sleep after hours of trying in vain. He sat up for a while, just looking around the room. Neville was snoring slightly, and Ron was muttering something in his sleep about Hermione needing to put down her book. A smile crept across Harry's face, as he fumbled around for his glasses. He picked them up off of the small table next to him, and swung his feet over the edge of his bed. Stepping to his feet, he walked down to the common room, suddenly feeling wide-awake.  
  
Great, he thought, my potions exam is tomorrow and I'm not going to get any sleep.  
  
As he stepped down the stairs, he noticed that there was already a fire going. He couldn't complain though; it was nice and warm. As he sunk down onto the couch, a voice startled him and he jumped.  
  
"Couldn't sleep either?"  
  
He immediately recognized the Irish accent, and turned his head to see Fae sitting on the floor with her back leaned up against the couch. She hadn't even turned to look at him, and her eyes bore into the fire.  
  
For a long time he didn't say anything. His scar was hurting again, but he figured maybe, instead of just running away from it, he should stay and try to figure out as much as he could. Finally, he stretched. "Nope. I reckon I had too much caffeine."  
  
Fae smirked, still keeping her eyes on the fire. She raised herself to the couch and sat down next to him, a little too close for comfort. He eyed her nervously, and she leaned against him as if they were old friends again, and there had never been certain weirdness between them.  
  
There was another long uncomfortable silence, although she seemed to be unfazed as she continued to stare into the flames. They danced and hissed, and the logs popped every now and then. He found himself to be staring too, until she lifted her head and looked at him. The sudden pain shocked him greatly, but he gritted his teeth and tried to bear it. What she did next was the last thing he had expected.  
  
She put her hand on the back of his neck, leaned in, and kissed him.  
  
Harry gasped, and pulled away. "Fae! What are you doing?" his whispered harshly. She only watched him intently as if she were waiting for something. Suddenly, his eyelids felt very, very, heavy. It spread throughout his entire body and he felt weak and vulnerable, as if he were in a daze.  
  
"Shh.." she said, and suddenly everything he saw went black.  
  
Harry was found lying face down in front of the fireplace the next day. He was in the same condition as Hermione.  
  
+ + +  
  
They were finally allowed to visit, after a few good hours of annoying Madame Pomfrey. Ginny, the twins, Ron and Fae slowly made their way into the infirmary. They weren't sure if they wanted to see what they were about to or not. None of them had actually seen them since they were found; it was Neville who had found Harry, and Parvati who found Hermione.  
  
The assistant nurse directed them to a curtain shielding the two beds, and gravely drew them back. Ginny clenched her fists, trying to be strong. Harry and Hermione were as pale as milk, their lips a stone-gray color, and their eyes were open. Hermione's once lively brown eyes were a lifeless, pale honey color. Harry's looked like someone smashed two emeralds into a pile of dull stone and dust. The only thing that symbolized any life was their chests moving up slightly now and then and the sound of their soft, shallow breathing.  
  
+ + +  
  
They all sat in the common room, not really knowing what to say. A few other Gryffindors had joined them, and some of the first year girls were even crying, though it was probably only because they were in Harry's fan club. Ron knew what he wanted to say. He wanted everyone to believe him that Fae was the one responsible for it. Then he wanted her to be expelled, Harry and Hermione to wake up, and Tracy would take her place where she used to be in the former 'trio'. Although for a while it had been more like a quartet-he still wouldn't forgive her for that-but she apparently realized that they believed that she had created the dark mark, and had stopped hanging around them. Then he got this bloody detention assignment.. ugh.  
  
He needed to walk.  
  
Walking always cleared his mind, for some reason. He didn't bother to ask if it worked for anyone else, but he knew it did for him. True, Fae would have to be attached to him, but they had learned to ignore each other over the weeks. Finally, he heaved a sigh and stood up. She looked up at him curiously but he only flicked his eyes to meet hers for a second, and then jerked his head toward the door. She sighed too and stood up, and the two of them headed out of the common room. Fae wasn't really in the mood for walking, but it did help to get all of the other students' accusing eyes off of her.  
  
They wandered around for a bit, not saying anything to each other. Fae had a hard time keeping up with Ron's long strides, and he wasn't even walking that fast. She scuttled along after him while he treaded with ease, and she could have sworn she heard him laughing quietly at her.  
  
They wound up somewhere she recognized all too well: the hall leading to Madame Hooch's room. Thoughts that she had managed to not think about over the past few days flooded her mind again. She was being a drama queen and a hypocrite, she knew. It was a relationship she had started when they were fifteen, did she really expect it to last? And she always said 'boys are stupid, get over it.' Now she was being so theatrical about things, but she couldn't seem to help it. She cleared her throat and finally said something.  
  
"I think it's past curfew.. we should be getting back." She said, but he only didn't say anything. She nervously tried again as they neared the door to Hooch's room. There was a light on the other side. "I really don't want to be responsible for losing any more house points, you know. People hate me enough as it is."  
  
"Shh." He stopped in his tracks.  
  
She held her breath, hoping that there was no Draco and Tracy on the other side of the door. But of course, she heard their voices mumbling something. She winced and slumped against the wall as he listened intently.  
  
"Sounds like Draco's with someone else." He said, and Fae looked up at him in utter shock. How insensitive could someone be?  
  
"You don't want to know who." She said back, and was surprised with herself. Now she really was being a big hypocrite. He glanced at her and then listened more intently, her words of course only making him more eager to hear who was on the other side with him.  
  
Finally, Draco muttered her name in a tone that obviously gave away just what they were doing. Fae cringed and Ron's eyes widened as he pressed himself up against the door. Apparently Tracy and Draco hadn't shut it all the way in their mad attempt to undo belt buckles and zippers, and the door swung open. Ron spilled onto the floor, Fae of course right behind him, and Tracy screamed at the top of her lungs. She climbed off of Draco and grabbed her clothes as Ron looked up at her, an insane amount of hurt and shock on his face. Draco saw Fae and cursed before doing the same as Tracy.  
  
For a long time there was silence as the two former couples just stared at each other. Finally, Ron choked out "Tracy.."  
  
"What?" she spat in her true English accent. There was more silence, and finally, Draco smirked.  
  
"Well, Weasley, you caught us." He said, buttoning up his shirt. "Yeah, Tracy and I have known each other for a while because of our families knowing each other. She's not really from America. We've been together now for about a year, and she knows my devotion to Quidditch. So she agreed to help me to get Potter's flying tactics. And she hates him just as much as I do, so we figured we could get even more to get him expelled by using his best friend. Well, seeing as to how you were weaker than Potter," he spat at Ron, who narrowed his eyes. He turned to Fae, "And I said I would use you, because you're even weaker."  
  
She bit her lip so hard she felt a pinprick of blood form under her teeth. Weak.. she was weak and more than just she knew it. Draco started walking around the room as Tracy looked as if she were going to kill him; he was practically telling them everything they *didn't* need to know. Ron stood up and Fae saw that he was red in the face, and looked like he was on the verge of tears.  
  
"Well," Draco said, "You weren't completely weak. I figured the best way to get information on Potter was to get you at your weakest point, which would be, of course, during sex."  
  
Fae went rigid but he didn't seem to notice. He stopped before her. "You wouldn't do it though. So, eventually, I was planning on working up some kind of vulnerability potion or charm.. brilliant, huh? So then when you were at your weakest stage I'd ask you, and you'd tell me any thing. Oh, and if you hadn't already guessed.. no, I never did love you or your mudblood thoughts and beliefs."  
  
Ron didn't know what he was doing. It all happened in a blur. He remembered shouting "You bloody bastard!" and then connecting his fist with Malfoy's jaw. The Slytherin was knocked sprawled out onto the floor, and after a moment, everything Draco saw went black. The redhead looked down on him, breathing so hard you would think he just ran the mile. As his chest heaved up and down, he looked at Tracy, his expression still filled with anger. A tear formed in his eye and he wiped it away with the back of his hand and then bolted out of the room, pulling Fae behind him.  
  
She didn't argue, and they both ran. They ran, and ran, and ran, not knowing where their destination was. Their feet beat the ground, and for the briefest moment they had some kind of understanding. As if for a concise second they didn't have any resentment toward each other. As they alighted back down to reality, they found themselves outside by the lake. The sun had just set and the first stars were starting to show. No winds were gusting and the waters looked like black stained glass.  
  
They stood there, not saying anything, for what seemed like ages. They were both breathing what seemed like their last breaths as they just looked out onto the waters. The wind finally started to pick up, chilling them and blowing their hair in and around their eyes. Eventually, their breathing was back to a normal speed. They stood outside, wordless, for another hour or so, until Ron finally sighed.  
  
"C'mon Stormy," his voice was hoarse as he sniffed, "We best be going inside."  
  
She didn't say anything at all, even when they reached the common room. Ron only nodded at his greetings from the twins. (Fred and Parvati seemed very busy snogging any way.) They went into their separate dormitories with only a quick glance at each other, and stayed there for the rest of the night.  
  
As she was crawling into her bed, Fae paused. He called me Stormy, she thought, what's that supposed to mean?  
  
+ + +  
  
The next few weeks were very awkward for Fae and Ron. They were both always unhappy because of their misfortunate encounter with Tracy and Draco. But they felt that no matter what they could say, they wouldn't be able to comfort each other because of their past. And because of this, they didn't try to.  
  
Fae figured that it was somewhat for the better. She probably wouldn't have worked up the courage to go up to Ron and tell him that the girl he loved wasn't even being true to him. Which, of course, would have made it an immensely difficult thing to tell Draco she knew. But either way, it did cause her to lose sleep at night.  
  
She couldn't even imagine how Ron felt. With Tracy cheating on him, and on top of that Harry and Hermione were found near death, so he had absolutely no one to talk to about it. He did have his twin brothers, but they were in the midst of their relationships with Lavender and Parvati, and probably wouldn't be much more than half-hearted about it. Then of course Ginny was a girl. Enough said. And he obviously wasn't going to come crying to Fae about it, seeing as to how they seemed to get along even worse than he and Draco.  
  
+ + +  
  
After breakfast the next day, she and Ron had barely made it halfway down the hall to the Gryffindor common room before he stopped. He heaved a sigh and leaned up against the wall, looking up at the ceiling.  
  
"Something wrong?" she asked.  
  
He rolled his eyes. "No, Stormy, nothing is wrong. Things just couldn't be better."  
  
She ignored his sarcasm, and instead took note that he had called her that again. "Why do you keep calling me that?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.  
  
He didn't answer, and his ears turned a little pink. She shook her head and sighed, shoving her free hand in the pocket of her black cargo shorts. "You know, you shouldn't beat yourself up over that."  
  
He snorted. "Wouldn't that make you kind of a hypocrite? You've been just as depressed."  
  
"I don't know, I'm just saying you deserve better." For a long time there was silence. Then, he looked at her in sheer, utter disbelief. "You just said something nice about me," he said, as his eyes grew wide  
  
All this was followed by even more silence, and she winced. Smooth one, Fae. Open mouth; insert foot, she thought sarcastically.  
  
She felt something moving on her wrist that was bound to Ron, and for a wild moment she thought that he was grabbing for her hand. Instead, when she looked down, one of the 'links' to the handcuffs they had on sent off a radiant white light, and then disappeared. They looked at each other for the briefest instant, before figuring out just what the trick was to getting these handcuffs off.  
  
"Ron, I have to say you're the most wonderful person I know."  
  
"Oh, Fae sweetheart, you're just too kind." He said with a lisp, waving his hand.  
  
"No, I insist! You have to be the most suave debonair I've ever met."  
  
He laughed, and another link disappeared. This carried on for a while until there was one link left. They had been saying insanely nice things about the other, whether they thought it was true or not. Their 'confessions' and 'compliments' were zinging so fast that Ron didn't have time to stop himself before he shouted:  
  
"I think you have the prettiest eyes I've ever seen!"  
  
As soon as he said it, they both turned deathly quiet. The things they had said earlier were just obvious excuses to get the cuffs off, but he sounded like he meant this. They just looked at each other, until the last link disappeared. There was an even brighter white light, and they felt the shimmering cuffs vanish from their wrists. They looked at their wrists and moved them around, getting used to the feel of being free. Then they looked back up into each other's eyes again. Fae realized just how close they were standing and.  
  
"Glad *that's* over, Weasley."  
  
"And not soon enough!"  
  
They folded their arms and huffed, turning their backs to one another.  
  
+ + +  
  
The next day, Fae and Violete were walking to class together, and she noticed that she wasn't attached to Ron.  
  
"Where's your shadow?" she asked, peering around her corner.  
  
Fae smiled triumphantly. "We finally got those God-forsaken cuffs off."  
  
"How?" she asked as they stood before Fae and Hermione's empty lab table.  
  
"He had to gnaw off his hand."  
  
She giggled. "Honestly, Fae, you two fight like you were a married couple."  
  
"Married? Violete, darling, I could barely stand being attached to him for a few weeks; how do you expect us to ever be a married couple? Besides, that's disgusting."  
  
Snape stormed in to the classroom. They exchanged glances before running to their seats and hoping that he hadn't noticed. Of course, he had.  
  
"Five points from Gryffindor; you can all thank Fae."  
  
Her jaw dropped as angry mumbling and groans came from her fellow classmates. Heaving a sigh and rested her hand on her cheek, she thought and so starts another lovely day.  
  
"Has anyone seen Mr Weasley?" the Professor asked, "Not that I'm complaining; one less Gryffindor means one less Potion disaster."  
  
Fae looked up and saw that Ron was missing. She figured he was skipping their first class because of Tracy. The girl had probably hurt him profoundly, but he would never admit to it. Across the room, the blonde caught her eye; she was flirting madly with one of the Hufflepuff boys and Fae wanted to just run over and rip her throat out so she'd never have to hear that annoying giggle again.  
  
"Ron's sick, professor." Fred replied. Snape, who was standing bent over his attendance sheet, barely flicked his eyes up at him before checking off Ron's name.  
  
When they reached Care of Magical Creatures, however, Ron was there. When the others asked him if he was feeling better, he just nodded and didn't say anything. Although when he saw Draco, he let out a bit of a snicker. He had a very noticeable fat lip and the corner of his mouth was bruised from when he punched him the night before. She and Ron's stare met for a spilt second before they tore away again. Fae rolled her gray eyes and put her head down on her desk.  
  
Married couple my arse.  
  
+ + +  
  
As they neared summer vacation, the amount of students being found paralyzed increased-Ironically, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was also discovered. Which wasn't surprising, they seemed to be getting a new one every other year any way and no one had bothered to even get close to this professor because they knew they would just be replaced for some odd reason. Eventually, almost the entire Gryffindor house was fallen victim. Everyone except Parvati, Dean, Neville, that annoying boy who always followed Harry around with a camera-Fae couldn't remember his name-Ron, and of course Fae.  
  
Ron felt like he was hanging by a thread. His two best friends, his brothers and sister were all near death. Not to mention everything that had happened with Tracy. He had really liked her. he imagined that it was probably love. He had never felt for anyone the way he felt for her, and he was so sure he felt the same. He missed the taste of her strawberry-kiwi lip-gloss or the smell of her Ralph Lauren perfume. Ron always used to tease her for it because she spent so much money on one little bottle to make sure she smelled good. He missed how ditzy she got when she was excited and her thrilled smile that went along with it. He missed her sparkles and glitter and rays-of-sunshine hair when he wound it around his finger. She never looked anything less than perfect, always seeming to be fresh from a shower when he saw her, and sometimes when he snuck into the Hufflepuff common room to speak to her, she'd do so while painting her toenails or drying her hair. Any other girl would say she wore entirely too much make up, but he thought it made her look even more beautiful. He tried to hide how much he missed things by not talking about it, or whenever he did have to, he'd act like it didn't bother him. Throwing on an act, he'd say "Yeah, well things are for the better," or "I never really liked her any way, I'm over it." But really, deep down.. God, he missed things. 


	12. Trial and Percy?

One day during Potions, Professor McGonagall called Fae out of class. She had a grave look on her face and didn't even attempt to smile when Snape, who didn't seem too ungrateful to be missing another Gryffindor, emitted the girl.  
  
"'Fessor?" she said, a little confused.  
  
She still kept her crucial look. "Come with me, O'Connor," was all she said before walking off.  
  
Fae raised an eyebrow, but followed after her any way. They reached a large phoenix statue, and she realized that it was the doorway to Dumbledore's office. She took in a deep breath and figured that it must be something of importance. She had never been there before, and to put things bluntly, she didn't really think she wanted to be.  
  
McGonagall jerked her head over her shoulder, and Fae reluctantly walked some distance so she could say the password. Eventually, she heard a sound that sounded like two large stones' surfaces rubbing together, and turned around. The statue started spinning and rising upwards, leaving a stone spiral staircase behind it.  
  
"Ace!" She exclaimed, but the professor only looked down at her and raised an eyebrow. She sighed. "Right.. okay.."  
  
McGonagall headed up the staircase and Fae followed behind. It was a short walk, and they eventually found themselves to be in a vast office. Dumbledore was standing with another man, who was speaking to him in a raised tone.  
  
"..You can't deny these pictures, Albus. It's proof right in front of your eyes,"  
  
"Yes, Mr Crouch, I understand that. But as I have said before, I will not act upon anything without a fair trial."  
  
Professor McGonagall cleared her throat, and the two quarreling men turned and a smile spread across Dumbledore's face. "Ah, Minerva, didn't see you there. And hello Fae, please, come in, come in."  
  
Fae stepped forward awkwardly, doing as she was told. There were tall bookshelves covering almost every spot on the walls, except for the opening to the second floor, and were all stacked with rows upon rows of books. Some kind of glowing globe sat spinning on the top of one of them. There was an enormous grandfather clock in the corner of one room, and there was a velvety-looking, red sofa next to it. Across the room was a big wooden stand, on which perched Fawkes the phoenix, and next to it was Dumbledore's desk. It was covered with interesting gadgets, quills, parchment, and even more books.  
  
He asked her to sit down, and she seated herself on the squishy red couch, completely aware of the man's purposefully conspicuous glare on her as she sat down.  
  
"Miss O'Connor, this is Mr Albert Crouch from the Ministry of Magic. He has recently taken over his brother Barty's head position."  
  
Fae recognized the name from back in August at King's Cross when Percy was constantly speaking of him and what a shame it was for his loss. Surprised that she still remembered that, she smiled at him any way. "'Lo," she said, trying to put on a cheerful face. Albert just snorted. Dumbledore rolled his eyes-she found humor in seeing a wizard of such high standards to something so juvenile-and continued.  
  
"Mr Crouch is here to speak to you of something. I am sure you know all about what has been happening lately at our school with finding the paralyzed students. Are you familiar with what happened at the beginning of the school year and towards the winter vacation and the two Dark Marks reported?"  
  
Fae nodded. Yes, because I was accused, she thought sarcastically, and then realized at her own words just what this meeting was for. Dumbledore nodded.  
  
"Of course she knows, she's the one who did it!" Albert suddenly cut in, and Fae's jaw dropped in shock.  
  
"*Excuse* me?" she exclaimed, and completely forgot about being polite.  
  
He sneered. "Don't try to hide it, we've got the evidence right here."  
  
"Mr Crouch!" Dumbledore silenced. He continued to glared daggers at him, but shut his mouth. The headmaster looked at Professor McGonagall, and she nodded and left. He then turned back to Fae, who was clutching one arm of the couch in anger.  
  
"Sir, please tell him that he's lost his mind!" She demanded, and realized that Mr Crouch looked kind of like Vincent Price. He was one of her favorite actors-because he was in two of the Poe movies-but suddenly lost so much interest in him.  
  
He looked back at her for a long while, and then turned to Mr Crouch and nodded. As soon as he did, the wizard from the Ministry threw a yellow envelope onto her lap and folded his arms as she glared back at him.  
  
"What's this?" She started opening it without waiting for their answer. She was pretty annoyed with this Mr Crouch, even after only knowing him for ten minutes. But what she saw fell out onto her lap shocked her.  
  
There were at least five photographs of her-obviously done on a wizard's camera, because they moved-holding a wand to the victims who had become paralyzed. There was Harry, Hermione, the two first year girls. she got to the last picture and it was one of her casting the spell to create the humongous Dark Mark in the room where Ron had found her so long ago. There was a very uncomfortable and long silence as she flipped through the pictures again and again, watching herself cast a curse on Harry, Hermione, and the other victims. Mr Crouch was looking at her with a horribly toothy grin of satisfaction. There was a long uncomfortable silence as she flipped through them over and over. Finally, she spoke.  
  
"How did you get these?" her voice cracked.  
  
Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak, but Albert cut him off. "Ever since the incident in the beginning of the year that happened on the Hogwarts Express-though I'm sure you're familiar with it and don't need the reminder- we've been placing wizard's camera's around the school. The flash won't be seen or detected by anyone, but it still goes off. We actually got the idea from a muggle camera way back when, but that's not important right now. Fess up."  
  
"Albert, that is enough!" Dumbledore finally said. He turned to Fae and gave her a gentle look, bending over so they were eye-to-eye.  
  
"Fae, I'm not accusing you of anything. And I assure you, nothing will happen to you until there has been a fair trial with the Ministry," he turned and looked at Mr Crouch over his shoulder. "But I need you to answer me honestly. Did you do any of these things?"  
  
"No." she said, almost too quickly.  
  
Mr Crouch went into a fit of rage. "Albus, how can you take this? There's photo proof right in front of you! She's obviously lying!"  
  
"As I have said before, I will not hold anything against her until there has been a proper trial. I've already spoken with the rest of the Ministry.. there is to be a trial in one week."  
  
Fae bit her lip. "Sir, if I really *am* guilty, hypothetically speaking of course, then what will they do with me?"  
  
He turned to Mr Crouch, who smiled smugly. "If you are found guilty, you will be expelled from Hogwarts for good, and probably sent to Azkaban."  
  
"Azkaban!" she screeched. She could hardly imagine herself in a prison.  
  
"Oh, don't worry, I'm sure there will be other juvenile delinquents such as yourself running around in there. You'll make friends in no time."  
  
His last few insults were unheard, because she was too busy trying to get her heartbeat back to a normal rate. She was going to go to Azkaban! For who knows how long, ten, twenty years. for life? She tried to imagine herself in the dark cells, carving things into the walls and avoiding the older male prisoners like the plague. Everything else that Dumbledore and Crouch told her was all a blur. All she remembered was that she was going to a trial somewhere in one week, and she would have to miss a day of school to attend. Finally, she asked to be excused. Dumbledore paused, but nodded and she left. As she grasped onto the handrail and stumbled down the phoenix staircase, the tiny strand of optimism she was hanging from was cut, and she fell. Literally.  
  
Everything was spinning as her body collapsed onto the cold stone floors. She felt insanely tired all of the sudden, and fought to keep her eyes open. But they eventually fluttered shut and she fell into the first tranquil sleep she had experienced in a while.  
  
+ + +  
  
She woke up there early the next morning to Filch's cat sniffing her hair and nose. Her eyelids barely lifted and she saw a huge cat face in front of her, and screamed. She sat up quickly as the cat ran off, probably to find its owner. She glanced out the window and saw that the sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she quickly stood up before Filch returned with his cat. Stretching, Fae wandered down the hall and finally found the Gryffindor common room again. The door swung open and Parvati walked out, probably to go visit the twins and Lavender. She glared at Fae, who mentally added her to the list of everyone who thought she was performing the spells.  
  
+ + +  
  
The next week went by all too fast for Fae, and the next thing she knew, she was woken up early by Professor McGonagall, rushed to get ready and then escorted to Dumbledore's office. He awaited her with a smile, although she didn't even bother to return it.  
  
It was her first time traveling by Floo Powder, and was very skeptical of it at she stepped into the chimney. But as she shouted "The Ministry Courthouse!" she believed every word he had told her. With a flash of blue, she tumbled out of a fireplace in a huge library. She scrambled to her feet and hastily dusted herself off, although it didn't do much. A few moments later, Dumbledore appeared and stepped out of the fireplace with ease. She rolled her eyes, and within a few moments Mr Crouch appeared.  
  
"Good morning, sir." He said to Dumbledore, and then cast a glare at Fae. She smiled back with obvious mock-sincerity. He mumbled something about she being lucky that the Order of the Phoenix wasn't involved in this, and started escorting them out of the library and down a long hall with marble floors and high a high ceiling.  
  
Fae felt like she was in mourning. McGonagall had told her to dress in all black 'dress clothes'-Fae didn't have many of these-and gave her a black veil to wear over her face for when they had the trial. She said something about how everyone who had been in trial was supposed to dress like this, but Fae hadn't particularly noticed too many other witches dressed like this.  
  
McGonagall had specifically told her all the 'rules' she had to follow. Leave it to her to go over the rules a thousand times: "Keep your head down, only speak when you're supposed to. And don't even think of raising your voice or using any Irish slang.. they would surely deem you guilty right on the spot. They're all a bunch of inconsiderate old men, so you definately want to act all sugar-syrupy sweet." She didn't really know why the Professor was helping her all of the sudden, but she was somewhat thankful for her advice.  
  
The next thing she knew, Mr Crouch was opening two extremely tall wooden doors. They stepped inside and Fae found herself to be in a vast courtroom. It wasn't like the Muggle ones she had seen, it was like a big theatre.. the kind she had seen where Muggles went to watch ballets or operas. Only of course there was no stage and no pit for the orchestra to sit in, but there were paintings and long red curtains on the windows that looked similar to curtains. She felt like she was in a part of Hogwarts she hadn't ever been in before.  
  
Surprisingly, there were many people sitting in the seats to watch the trial. Fae didn't have the slightest idea as to whom any of them were, but it only made her feel more awkward to know that she'd have an audience. The jury was seated in the same place as juries were in a Muggle court. They were probably the members of the Ministry, so she imagined. She was escorted to sit down at a small table in the front, and realized that she didn't have a lawyer. She was about to ask Dumbledore, but when she turned around he was gone.  
  
She felt everyone's accusing eyes on her, and she suddenly wondered what she was doing in there. She also wanted to know where her parents were, and if they had even been informed. They would probably skin her alive, both of them being Catholic Muggles. This was the reason she wasn't allowed to attend Hogwarts until her fifth year, because they were so religious and thought that by sending her there, she would indulge in 'black magic'. She finally convinced them though after four years of trying, and now she was being charged for association with Voldemort and the Dark Arts. She warily turned around in her seat and eventually spotted her parents seated in the back. Her mother's hair was pulled up into a tight bun on the back of her head as it always was, and her father had grown back a beard. They both pressed their lips into a thin line, a sure sign that they were very disappointed, she had learned over the years. She was never going to hear the end of this, she realized, and slumped down farther into her seat.  
  
A few moments later, the door opened and a few people walked in. Fae didn't bother to look up, but she could tell by the numerous numbers of footsteps. Someone pulled up the chair next to her, and she jumped and looked to see who it was.  
  
"Percy?" she exclaimed, not bothering to hide any of her shock. "*You're* going to be my lawyer?"  
  
Percy Weasley, who she had met at King's Cross so long ago, was seated next to her. He turned to her and she was surprised to see no smile on her face.  
  
"I'm doing this because I need a promotion in the ministry." He said bluntly, and turned back in his seat. Her jaw dropped and she slammed her head on the table.  
  
I am so screwed.  
  
+ + +  
  
A few minutes later the judge walked in. Fae was surprised to see that it was a woman, and she was in black robes and a tall wizards hat of matching color.  
  
"All rise for Judge Judith," someone announced.  
  
The courtroom rose to their feet as the judge took her place behind her podium and then they all sat again. Fae sniggered internally as she thought of the show Judge Judy. At least she found a little optimism and humor in this. She still felt very self-conscious in her 'funeral' clothes, probably because everyone continued to stare at her.  
  
Everything went by in a blur. She couldn't really recall all that happened because she had been so nervous. She remembered that Percy did put up a fight for her, but everyone there seemed to know it was hopeless. As soon as Mr Crouch had brought up the pictures, the entire audience and some of the jury gasped. Her mother wailed and buried her face in her father's shoulder, as Fae bit her lip. She became tongue-tied to answer questions, and tried her best to avoid looking at what appeared to be Dementors, in the shadow of one corner of the room. She had no idea what she had answered or how badly she was stuttering, but she remembered the disapproving looks from the jury and the judge.  
  
The one thing that really stuck out in her mind was when the jury returned back into the courtroom. She remembered none of them were looking at her when they walked out-not a good sign-and everything started to go in slow motion. It suddenly was very, very hot as the Judge asked if they had reached a verdict.  
  
"We have," one man stood up. "We find the defendant.. guilty."  
  
Mr O'Connor gasped and his wife started bawling again and massaging the cross she had around her neck with her fingers. Fae felt her heart drop down into her stomach as the man continued reading things off of a piece of parchment that she didn't even hear. All she could think of was the buzzing in her ears and some of the crowd murmuring and watching her intently. The only thing she heard the man say was "..She will be expelled from Hogwarts in three days, and will be sentenced to twenty years in Azkaban."  
  
Fae's jaw dropped and she felt her eyes well up with tears. She remembered her Detention monitor in the beginning of the year telling her that she would somehow end up in Azkaban, and her throat was tight. Her mother was sobbing uncontrollably, the crowd was still murmuring, and she suddenly felt very, very tired again. The room started spinning and she felt herself slide out of her seat and onto the floor. Then everything went black.  
  
+ + +  
  
She woke up in the infirmary in at Hogwarts. She had no idea how she got there or just how long it had been. Opening her eyes, she tried to recall what had happened to her at the Ministry. And then suddenly, it hit her. She was going to be expelled from Hogwarts in probably less than two days, and sentenced to twenty years in Azkaban.  
  
Azkaban! She had just turned fifteen in January, and she was going to Azkaban!  
  
She suddenly noticed that her parents were both asleep in two chairs pulled up near her bed, her mother with her hand clutched tightly around her cross necklace. She smirked to herself; she was always so paranoid of the whole witchcraft idea, and was very old fashioned.  
  
Slowly, Fae sat up, hoping that Madame Pomfrey wouldn't notice. The nurse, however, was asleep on her desk, snoring every now and then. Fae looked around the room and saw all the victims of what were supposedly her attacks. She saw Harry, Hermione, the twins, Ginny, Lavender.. everyone. And that was when she decided that something was going to have to be done. She refused to let herself go down like this, and leave all of these victims lying in a coma. Although she wouldn't really mind so much if Lavender stayed..  
  
She slowly swung her feet over the edge and stood up, realizing her legs felt like jell-o. She wobbled over to the door, slowly opened it, and stepped outside. Catching the clock as she looked out the door, it was 11:28 p.m. She winced; if she had been asleep for two days, then she had one half hour to do whatever she was going to do. And to put it bluntly, she had no idea.  
  
As she was walking down some staircases toward the great hall, she passed by the door where she had seen the huge spiders. Looking at it, she shuddered at the memory, and then stopped and did a double take. There was a light on the other side. 


	13. Taim I' ngra Leat

She stood there for a minute, just looking at the door. She had no idea what she was going to do as she debated in her mind. Finally, she walked toward the door; she was sentenced to twenty years in Azkaban, if she got in trouble at school it couldn't be much worse. Just as her hand was about to grasp the doorknob, she heard a banging noise and jumped. Spinning around, she peered into the darkness ahead of her.  
  
"Who's there?" She called out nervously, and then realized that doing this would definitely get her caught. She slapped herself on the forehead, completely forgetting her wand, and pulled it out. "Lumos."  
  
Ron raised his hand to shield the light from his eyes. "Fae, what are you doing?" He asked suddenly: accusingly. She realized he still thought that she was the one who did all of this, and perhaps assumed that she was out to take more students for victim before she was expelled. Did he even know about it?  
  
She blinked. "I was about to ask you the same."  
  
"Yeah, well I asked you first," He paused, "You look like you're about to go to a funeral."  
  
Fae realized that she was still in the black dress she had worn to go to the Ministry. For a while there was silence and she whispered "Nox" to put out her light, and they just stood before each other, shrouded in the darkness. Finally, she answered his question. "I'm going to save the day, wanna come with?" She said sarcastically.  
  
"Save the day?" He exclaimed. "*You're* the one who did all of this-"  
  
A loud meowing noise cut them off. They looked down and Fae pointed her wand again. "Lumos." She repeated uneasily. She prayed that it was Pluto, but instead they saw Filch's cat before them. It meowed again, and his voice echoed from somewhere down the hall.  
  
"Is that you, my sweet? Did you find us some nasty students to take care of?"  
  
Ron turned to her quickly. "Put it out! Put it out!" he exclaimed, and in a mad attempt to grab it from her, knocked it onto the floor. It shone in the cat's eyes and onto Filch's shadow on the wall farthest away.  
  
"Ah, yes, we do have us some game to catch." Fae could have sworn he cackled.  
  
She bent over to pick up her wand, but Ron grabbed her arm. "No time!" He hissed in her ear, and pulled her into the door they had been standing by. She started to protest and say that she had seen someone's shadow on the other side, but it was too late. They were inside and the door was swiftly and soundlessly shut.  
  
+ + +  
  
Fae started looking around the room nervously for the shadow she had seen earlier, but found no moving objects. In fact, it was completely dark again.strange. They pressed their ears up against the door and listened for Filch to leave. They saw the light on the outside of the door being lifted up and heard him mumble the extinguishing spell. He turned to his cat and eventually meandered back down the hall. Ron and Fae turned their backs against the wall and heaved a sigh of relief. For a long time they didn't say anything, until she finally asked a question.  
  
"Why did you come here?"  
  
He shrugged. "Why did you?"  
  
Instead of going along with the whole who-asked-who-first ordeal again, she answered his question. "I'm not really sure. I just woke up and figured I had to do something. I'm not going to get expelled for something that I didn't do."  
  
Suddenly, the heavens opened, and for one time since the entire period that she had known him, Ron kept his mouth shut. He just nodded, and they continued to look ahead into the darkness.  
  
"I suppose we get a move-on, then." He said, breaking the silence.  
  
She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, though she doubted he could see in the vast darkness. "You're going to help me?" she asked, as he preformed the Lumos spell on his own wand. She saw his ears go pink and he looked flustered.  
  
"I'm not *helping* you, Fae. I came here before I even knew that you were going to." He stepped off into the darkness.  
  
"Sure, Ron, sure." She mumbled under her breath, and followed after his wand light.  
  
Neither of them had seen the room in the light before, and they realized just why. As they stepped forward, they were constantly stopping and screeching at the spiders crawling out of their paths. Both of them being extremely scared of spiders, this didn't make anything better. As their shoes padded on the cold stone floors, they were constantly spinning around nervously searching the room at any sound. Especially those that seemed even relatively close to spider legs running.  
  
"Do you have any idea where we're going?" Fae finally asked stepping over a large crumbled stone. She grabbed his wand from him and shone it to the ceiling. They were definitely not in a well-kept part of the school; the walls were crumbling and there was what appeared to be dead ivy leaves crawling up the sides. A spider scrambled into a hole in the wall when the light hit it, and they both shuddered.  
  
"No," he said curtly and snatched the wand back. "Do you?"  
  
"Just following the leader," she said sarcastically.  
  
+ + +  
  
They walked for who knows how long, until Ron stopped before her. "Do you hear that?"  
  
"Hear what?" she asked, but only received a "Shh!" to silence her. She listened intently, leaning over his outstretched arm. Finally, she heard the distant sound of running water; it sounded like a small stream. They exchanged glances and then kept walking for some ways before they reached a long flight of stairs that spiraled downward into darkness.  
  
"Should we go?" she asked nervously.  
  
He looked over at her and flicked a small smile. "That's why we came here, miss brilliance." He said sarcastically and walked down the stairs with ease. She sighed and followed after him, silently wishing that she were as half as brave as he was. Ron wouldn't admit to it, but he was shaking as they clambered down the stone steps.  
  
+ + +  
  
They reached the bottom and the sound of the water was amplified, and the air was suddenly very damp. They couldn't see much, and Fae wished that she hadn't of dropped her wand. As soon as Ron's foot touched the last step of the staircase, it crumbled and he lost his poise. He teetered forward for a bit, grabbed Fae for balance, but ended up falling any way. The two tumbled down into the darkness and soon felt their bodies meet with the harsh slap of freezing cold water. They were swept away, Ron clutching onto his wand as if it were some kind of floatation device. Fae would surface and then go under, then come back up again coughing and gasping for breath.  
  
Eventually, she surfaced and barely caught a glimpse of an abrupt drop off a few feet ahead. She tried to claw her way over to the side, but it was too late and she was thrown down the small waterfall. She was lucky that it wasn't any bigger, because the water at the bottom was only a thin layer and she landed hard on the ground. Fae gasped at the sharp pain shooting through her arm and rolled out of the way of the waterfall incase Ron came tumbling down. She staggered to her feet and looked around.  
  
She couldn't see a thing. It was completely dark. Eventually, she saw the soft flickering of a light in the distance: Ron's wand. She ran over in the direction of the glow, clutching her left arm tightly; she figured it was either sprained or broken.  
  
"Ron!" she called. She finally reached the flickering light and saw him a few feet away from his wand, lying on his back. "Ron!" she exclaimed in a harsh whisper, and kneeled by his side. Reaching out a hand, she grasped his shoulder and shook. She said his name again and kept shaking, and after a while his eyes fluttered open.  
  
Ron sat up abruptly and started coughing up water. He went on for a few minutes heaving water and then grabbed his forehead. He put his hand in front of his face and saw red stains on his fingertips. "Bloody hell.." he murmured.  
  
Fae noticed and shone his wand up to his face, as his pupils contracted. "You're bleeding," she stated the obvious.  
  
"Well gee Fae, thanks for telling me! Cause I sure hadn't noticed!" he exclaimed, his voice dripping with sarcasm. She clenched her teeth, wondering how he could be sarcastic at a time like this. She just hung her head, fighting to not say something back.  
  
He looked at her and sighed. "Sorry," he said, and then aimed his wand toward the cut. "Consutum," he said and the blood seemed to evaporate and all that was left was a small, temporary scar. He felt it with his fingertips and then looked at her arm. "Bloody hell, what happened to you?"  
  
Her arm was turning a nice shade of fuchsia and something beneath her skin looked out of place. Ron winced. "It looks broken."  
  
"It feels broken," she retorted. He looked at his wand and back to her arm.  
  
"Give it here."  
  
"Oh sure Ron, I'll just hand it right over to you. Right, so you can make things worse for me." Her sarcasm was completely ignored as he pointed his wand at it and muttered, "Ferula."  
  
A sling appeared on her arm out of nowhere. She blinked and stared at him in disbelief. "Oh.." was all she could manage to say. He just looked back with a goofy-looking smile of satisfaction and got to his feet.  
  
"C'mon," he said, offering her his hand. She took it with her good hand-her left-and he raised her to her feet. He preformed the Lumos spell again, and they continued walking. The sound of the water was behind their backs now, and Fae was trembling to know what was coming up ahead of them.  
  
+ + +  
  
As they kept walking, they realized that they didn't seem to be in a hall any more; it was more like a cave. The walls were declining as they went on, and they eventually were forced to lean forward to an uncomfortable position. Eventually they reached a bigger room, with the same river deviously flowing to their right. There was a dead end a short way ahead, and another drop off to the side of the wall. On the wall across from them was a large door.  
  
"Great. Now what?" Ron asked, seeming to lose all hope.  
  
Fae took his wand and shone it around the wall, searching for another way out. Finally, the light spilled over a very small tunnel. She got down on her knees and looked in. There was a small amount of light coming from the other side, like the sun behind the clouds. "Look!" she called.  
  
Ron came to her side and kneeled down before her. "That's probably where we need to go," he said, more to himself than to her.  
  
She flipped a piece of her still soaking-wet hair behind her ear. "I'll go through here, and you go through the door," she said.  
  
"What? Are you mad?"  
  
"I just might be," she said, and got down on her free hand and knees, ready to crawl in. He grabbed her shoulder and brought her back up to her feet. She sighed irritably and looked up at him. "Ron. No offense, but you're not small enough to fit through there. It's our best bet to split up and then meet up wherever these things join."  
  
"What if they don't meet up?"  
  
She put her hands on her hips impatiently. "Well we're not going to figure it out if we just stand here, now are we?"  
  
After a moment of him flicking her eyes nervously from her to the hole, he sighed. "Fine. But take this." He shoved his wand into her hands. "It's not the best in the world. It's broken a few times, but I think you'll need it."  
  
She looked back up to him in disbelief at the courtesy he was showing. "Well what are you going to use?"  
  
"I have both arms incase I need to fight something. Do you know many attack spells?"  
  
"One or two." She turned to the hole, crossed herself-it had grown into a habit, she being from a Catholic family-and muttered "Taim i' ngra leat, Mum, Da."  
  
He looked at her with a confused look, and she smiled softly. "It's Irish- Gaelic for 'I love you', and I just added Mum and Da. Incase I die somehow. Which I won't, so don't worry."  
  
He gave her the look that suggested he was going to protest, but she cut him off. "I'll be fine," she said, and turned her back to him before he could stop her again. She heard him moving towards her, and she heaved a sigh, ready to defend that she was strong enough to handle this and she wasn't a little girl. But the next thing she felt were strong arms wrapping around her shoulders, and she almost gasped.  
  
"Be careful, Stormy," he mumbled in her ear and let her go. She only nodded and didn't look back as she put his wand in between her teeth, and began to edge into the small tunnel on her hand and knees.  
  
She crawled and crawled for what seemed like an eternity. A few times she had to use Stupefy on some rather huge spiders that sped after and toward her. She was covered in cobwebs and other icky substances, but she eventually made her way out of the tunnel. After she stood up, she bent over and peered out through the hollow. Ron was standing on the other side. He had a weak smile on and she frailly waved at him before they both went their separate ways.  
  
It was still very dimly lit, and she preformed the Lumos spell again. As soon as she preformed it though, torches suddenly ignited, lighting the entire room. She jumped and spun around, searching for whoever had lit them. However, she found no one. Nervously, she looked around and saw that she was still alone, and that she was in a very large room. The walls were stone, but they weren't as crumbled and destroyed as the other ones she had seen. There was a gigantic square pit ahead of her covering up most of the room. Far, far above it was a ledge leading up to a huge wooden doorway with two U-shaped door handles.  
  
She assumed that somehow she would need to get up there, but she had no idea how. The pit seemed to be endless, and she figured that she would need to figure out its depth somehow. She kneeled down and picked up a small rock off of the ground, and slowly edged her way toward the pit. Cautiously, she raised her hand over the pit and dropped the pebble. She waited a long, long time, and heard nothing.  
  
Cursing under her breath, she stood there for a long time, wondering just how she was supposed to get up to that ledge. She was pacing and pacing, when suddenly she heard a low growl from behind her.  
  
She spun around and saw eight eyes peering at her from somewhere in the shadows of a back wall. Fae let out a small gasp and took a step back, and the growl sounded again.  
  
"Ron?" she squeaked, although she knew it was impossible for him to be that high up, let alone have eight eyes.  
  
A long, hairy leg poked out from the shadows-a spider's leg. She let out a whimper. Why did it have to be a spider? She would have had Lions, three- headed dogs, and dragons... anything but a spider. Clutching Ron's wand with a death grip, she took another involuntary step back, and nearly lost her balance and fell backwards into the pit. She let out a yelp and fell forward onto her knees as the spider crawled out into plain view.  
  
And it was huge.  
  
She quickly stood to her feet and took a few steps forward just enough to not be on the edge of the pit. The spider stood up and stretched to its full height, and Fae finally decided that she was going to have to do something if she didn't want to be eaten.  
  
Pointing her wand at it, she shouted "Deletrius!"  
  
The spider leaped up into the air and her spell missed completely. Before she could run out of the way, it came crashing down on top of her, knocking her onto her back. She let out a scream as it started spitting some sort of web at her. She rolled out of the way, but it still wrapped around her legs, binding them together. Rolling over onto her back again, she aimed the wand at its face. She used the stupefy spell again, but it moved out of the way and she barely hit it.  
  
Cursing under her breath at her bad aim, she started army crawling out from underneath it. The stun would probably only blind it for a few moments, and she didn't have much time. She aimed the wand at the web binding her legs together and used the fire spell. It burned off of her quickly, but also slightly scorched her skin.  
  
She got to her slightly maimed feet just as the spider turned to her and lunged one of its front legs at her. It pierced her up against the wall by her arm that was already broken. She choked on the scream in her throat as the spider leg impaled her skin.  
  
The spider let out some sort of roar and opened its ugly mouth to spit more webs at her, but she aimed the wand directly into its throat and shouted as loud as she could, "Incendio!"  
  
The web that had already left its mouth caught on fire, and as if a lit fuse, traveled up to its head and it ignited. It reared up somehow onto its hind legs and screeched, giving her time to run out of the way before it collapsed back onto the ground and burned slowly. She stood there for a brief moment before turning to her arm. The entire arm of her black, lacy dress was cut to shreds and a dark red liquid was covering its expanse and rolling down off of her fingertips onto the floor. She bit her lip, trying to remember the spell Ron had used to get rid of his cut, but she couldn't recall it. She needed to find him so he could help her.  
  
+ + +  
  
She looked up to where she had seen the ledge, and now that the room was brighter-the spider's corpse was still burning behind her-she could see something glinting in the firelight, leading up to the ledge. She squinted, trying to get a better look, and then picked up another pebble off of the ground. Throwing as best as she could since she wasn't very ambidextrous, she missed completely. After a few tries, she hit right where she had seen the glint and the rock made a panging noise and bounced off of what appeared to be thin air.  
  
She pointed her wand and shouted "Solaris!" A huge ray of light escaped from the wand and revealed a long, winding glass staircase. They created a prism and formed colorful writing on the far wall: She who you trusted most will prove to be opposite.  
  
She moved the direction of the light farther down the staircase, and another message appeared: Enemies of the heir, beware.  
  
"That's not too welcoming," she said out loud. "But who is 'she' that they're talking about?"  
  
She stood for a minute with her wand pointed at the stairs, reading the message over and over, and eventually decided that she would just have to walk up there if she wanted to find out. Glancing over her shoulder to see if the spider had somehow come back to life, she saw that it was still aflame. She kept her wand pointed ahead and took a deep breath, then uneasily put her foot down on the first step.  
  
She pressed all of her weight down on it, and nothing happened. She heaved a sigh of relief and put her other foot on the second step, and then kept going. She was up to about the fourth step when she heard a noise that sounded like ice cracking. She slowly turned around and saw that the first two steps had spider web cracks in them, and then they suddenly burst into shards of glass and fell down into the pit.  
  
"Cripes!" she exclaimed, and turned and started running as fast as she could up the stairs. The steps behind her were bursting and falling into darkness faster and faster, and she wasn't even halfway up yet. But she had to keep running. She wasn't going to fall and let this be the end of it. A look of determination crossed over her face, and keeping her eyes fixated on the ledge before her, she ran faster.  
  
She was at the third to last step when she felt the step she was standing on break under her, and shards of glass press into her back and legs. She gave a disgruntled cry and threw herself up onto the ledge, just as the last two stairs disappeared. Everything below her waist was hanging over the side of the ledge as she grabbed onto the stone floors and tried to pull herself up with her good arm.  
  
Finally, she swung her legs over the side and rolled over onto the ledge, breathing as if she had just run the mile. And it felt like she had. After a few moments of regaining her breath, she finally crawled back to her feet and tucked her wand into her stocking. She made her way to the door and with great effort, pulled it open.  
  
+ + +  
  
Fae groaned: another staircase. Performing the Lumos spell, she painfully made her way down the stairs, counting everything on her body that was even the least bit sore. Her legs were burnt slightly, her arm was broken and nearly impaled; she'd probably carry the scar for the rest of her life, she had minor cuts all over her legs and a rather large piece of glass was sticking into her back. Not to mention every muscle felt like it was jell-o and her feet were tired from walking in her dress shoes.  
  
She stumbled down off of the last step, after what seemed like an eternity, and found her self to be in a fairly large room. It was much smaller than the last one, and it actually had windows. They were circular stained glass, but they did let light in. There was also a tall mirror at the far wall opposing her with a sword hanging from the wall, and another doorway down towards the end also.  
  
Walking down a ways, she stopped in front of one of the mirrors. She looked an absolute fright. Her dress was completely tattered, and she was bloody all over, it seemed. The only thing that symbolized that it was, in fact she, and not some horrible zombie, was that her gray eyes were still very much alive.  
  
"Fae!"  
  
She turned around and saw Ron standing at the door opposite to the one she had come in. He appeared to be in little less a bad condition than she was. He had a black eye and his cut on his fore head appeared to be re-opened. His white uniform shirt was also just as tattered and some of its left sleeve was red with blood, and he had holes in the knees of his black pants. But he looked nothing less than happy to see her.  
  
"Ron!" she shouted back, and limped over to him as fast as she could. 


	14. A Fire Inside

A sudden flame shooting up in between them cut her off abruptly. She stopped and shielded her eyes from the light, and it finally faded away. It left someone standing there in a black, hooded cloak. Fae and Ron's blood suddenly turned to freezing rivers at the presence of whoever it was.  
  
"Who are you?" Ron demanded.  
  
The hooded figure didn't budge. They spoke with two voices: that of a man's, and that of a young girl about their age. "I am the heir."  
  
Fae's eyes widened. "Enemies of the heir, beware.." she repeated to herself in a whisper, suddenly remembering the prism's writing that she had seen on the wall.  
  
"Oh, so you saw the writing." The hooded figure concluded, still not appearing to move. "But you did not listen, Faelyn. Foolish girl. And neither did you, Ronald."  
  
"How do you know our names?" Ron pressed.  
  
They could just hear the smirk in their voice. "I know you both well. And I'm sure you know me too, by both of my names."  
  
Ron looked as if he was getting to be very frustrated. "Show yourself, coward!" he bellowed, clenching his hand into a fist.  
  
"Very well."  
  
Whoever it was, was facing towards Fae. As they raised their pale fingers to take off their hood, she was slowly reaching for the wand in her stocking. But when the hood fell back, she was frozen in shock.  
  
"Violete!"  
  
Her pale face was twisted in a horrible smile as her black hair hung over it in strands. She was the one who was doing all of these horrible acts and then framing her so-called friend? Fae could see Ron's jaw drop out of the corner of her eye, but he said nothing.  
  
"You're the heir..and you're Lord Voldemort? But how..?" Fae couldn't even finish her sentence, clenching the wand in her hand.  
  
Violete just kept leering at her. "How did I pull it off, you ask? Well, first I needed to look completely innocent. And what way is better than to look disguise myself as a student here? Then I had to find someone to frame for my acts. You coincidentally bumped into me in the library. did you notice that when you did this I took a strand of your hair? No, I didn't think so. I used this for the Polyjuice Potions later."  
  
"So that's how they got the pictures of me," she said in absolute amazement.  
  
Ron stopped. "Well then how do you explain that I saw her holding the wand that created the Dark Mark?" he questioned, just as shocked as she was.  
  
Violete smiled. "Ah, yes. I left it there for someone to pick up, and she just happened to be the one to get it. I put a spell on the wand to use Prior Incantatem as soon as someone touched it. I was quite pleased with this coincidence, and that's when I knew I only had to use one victim instead of two to frame for my work."  
  
Fae looked over at Ron, and he had a change in facial expression. So now he knew that she really wasn't the one who created the Dark Mark. Their eyes met for one second before she turned them back towards Violete.  
  
"Why are you not in Slytherin?" she inquired, surprised that she was actually talking to this Voldemort-in-disguise.  
  
"Hmm, so you remember. Do you recall how the sorting hat was supposedly missing in the beginning of the year? So I was sorted into Hufflepuff because of my parents? I took it."  
  
Fae's eyes narrowed. "So you're the one who hid it in my stuff! And you're the one who created the Dark Mark in the beginning of the year. That's why when you were Violete, you said that you weren't on the bus."  
  
"Oh, you catch on quick, girl." Violete sneered. "Too bad you will both be destroyed, and no one will know what happened. And I will kill Potter for good."  
  
She took her hand out from under her sleeve and hastily wiped it across her face. As soon as her hand left her skin, she was no longer Violete. She was suddenly taller and had a pale green, scaly face. Her all red eyes were big almond shapes now, and she had sharp fangs when she opened her mouth. Not to mention, she was now a he: Voldemort. He pulled out his wand and turned to aim it at Ron, who remained glaring with an angry face. "You won't hurt Harry. I won't let you," he narrowed his blue eyes.  
  
"We will see, Mr. Weasley."  
  
Fae whipped out her wand and threw it over Voldemort's head to him, "Ron!" He caught it with ease and aimed it back at Voldemort.  
  
"Incandensus!" he shouted, and a flame shot out of the tip of his wand. Voldemort moved out of the way and the fire nearly singed Fae's hair.  
  
Voldemort knocked Ron's wand out of his hand, and then turned around to Fae and started throwing more fire at her. She managed to dodge a few of them, but just by a hair. Ron threw his wand over to her and she caught it, and as soon as she did, Voldemort pointed the wand back at him and yelled "Engorgio!"  
  
"Watch out!" Fae screeched, but it was too late.  
  
Ron froze and his wand slipped from his fingers. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as he fell over onto his back. He screamed as his limbs were twisted, and retched as he was thrown around. Fae just stood and watched with a look of horror on her face. She had learned about that spell in her classes, and how after a while it would drain the blood of the victim. It was one of the unforgivable curses. A pool of blood seeped through the back of Ron's shirt and slowly spread across the carpet, and Fae saw a tiny drop of saltwater slip from his eye down his cheek. That was when she lost it.  
  
"Stop it!" She screamed, but Voldemort remained torturing him. She ran up behind him and jumped on his back, knocking her forward. As soon as she laid her hands on her, she felt like a giant ice sculpture. Voldemort shook her off his back and she fell onto the floor, and he kept his wand aimed at Ron. Fae shouted with pained frustration and took off one of her dress shoes and drove the sharp Stiletto heel into his back. It was a lame attempt, but all that she had.  
  
Voldemort let out a shrill yell and fell forward onto his hands and knees. He broke his concentration on Ron, who finally collapsed back onto the ground. The shoe was still sticking to his back, and Fae grimaced at the sight of the darkest of black blood seeping down the tail of his robes. She cringed even more when he reached over his shoulder and ripped her shoe out from his flesh with the sickening sound of someone cutting meat.  
  
He turned to her and hissed, and in a blurry second he was standing right before her. He pointed his wand at her and muttered something in Parcel Tongue and Fae was thrown up against a wall. Her head cracked against the stone and she sunk down leaned up against the wall. Her vision was blurry, but she could still see him advancing towards her.  
  
With another flick of his wand, she was abruptly raised to her feet again, and her head fell forward dizzily. She had a pounding migraine and was almost certain that she was bleeding. Voldemort grasped her neck in his strong grasp, cutting her slightly with his claw-like nails, and smiled evilly.  
  
"You filthy Gryffindor mudbloods will never learn," he hissed, and she arched her neck back and spit in his face.  
  
His eyes filled with rage and he threw her back against the wall again. She cried out and watched helplessly as he brought his wand up and pointed it at her forehead.  
  
"Now you'll be joining Saint Potter's parents. Avada Keda-"  
  
His spell was cut short by the sound of more ripping flesh.  
  
Fae looked down and saw a pointy silver object, covered in black blood protruding from his stomach. He gasped out loud and again as the ripping noise was heard again and it disappeared back under his flesh.  
  
He let Fae go, and she collapsed back down onto her knees, coughing and sputtering. Voldemort grabbed his stomach and glared back at Fae. He sunk back against the opposing wall, and looked down at his hands. The black blood was seeping through his fingers and falling onto the floor like dots of ink. "Enemies of the heir..beware." He whispered through his heavy breathing. Pointing his wand at himself, he muttered something in Parcel Tongue, and disappeared in a cloud of swirling black smoke.  
  
Fae finally tore her eyes off of where the Dark Lord had disappeared and looked around for what had caused his nearly fatal wound. And she saw Ron, knees buckles to brace him self, holding the sword she had seen on the wall earlier. His once white shirt was covered in his-and Voldemort's-blood, and some of his was trailing from his mouth. Breathing heavily, he dropped the sword to the ground with a clatter and finally, a weak smile spread across his face.  
  
Her gray eyes started burning with the hint of tears. "Ron," she cried softly, weakly, and ran to him.  
  
He hobbled over and met her halfway. And in all of their blissful happiness to just know that they were alive, they grabbed each other in a tight embrace. It hurt them horribly to be holding each other so tightly, but Fae didn't want to let go. He was so warm compared to the cold, damp air she had been in for so long. They sunk down onto their knees, still holding on, and both of them sobbing their eyes out into each other's shoulders. They were crying and grabbing each other tighter, probably soaking their shirts in one another's blood, and probably just creating a greater pain for one another.. and they didn't care.  
  
Finally, she met his eyes and managed to choke out a few sentences. "You shouldn't have thrown the wand to me. Look what happened to you. I would have been fine without it."  
  
He smirked. "Oh, shut up, Fae." He said, and pressed his mouth against hers.  
  
If his embrace was warm, then his lips were fire. After a few moments they parted, Fae completely awestruck and still teary-eyed. She felt as if she couldn't move, she was in such shock, but he just sniffed again, still trying to hold back tears, and held on to her for dear life.  
  
"Oh my Goodness, there you are! Albus, I've found them!"  
  
They looked over into the doorway that Fae had come in, and saw Professor McGonagall standing with her wand aimed as if she was ready to kill anything that attacked her. A genuine smile crossed her face and she lowered it, as Dumbledore and Snape burst into the room.  
  
"By Merlin, we must get them to the hospital wing!" Dumbledore exclaimed.  
  
As they were instructed, McGonagall put Fae's good-well, in less of a bad condition-arm around her shoulder and helped her walk, as Snape did the same with Ron. They reached the glass staircase where Fae had last been and found their three brooms leaned up against the wall. Fae was to ride with McGonagall, and Ron with Snape. They sat on the front of the broom while the professors helped to keep them from falling over and steered the handles.  
  
Fae and Ron were fast asleep by the time they reached the hospital wing, and didn't wake as they were carefully put into their separate hospital beds and nursed. It was five o'clock in the morning by the time they got up there.  
  
+ + +  
  
When he awoke, Ron was sore all over and had a splitting headache. Slowly, very slowly, he sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He winced and looked around the room. He was still in the hospital bed, and sunlight was pouring through the open blinds opposite to him. Looking to his side, he found himself to be surrounded by cards and candies. The one he picked up was a folded piece of blue construction paper. He unfolded it and read on the inside:  
  
Ron, I hope you get better soon. At least it wasn't me this time.haha, just kidding, mate. I can't wait to see you back in the Great Hall fighting over the salt with Hermione. Take care. - Harry  
  
The card was from Harry; he was back awake! He had to be to have written the card, and by the sounds of it, Hermione was okay too. Ron quickly-and painfully-stood to his feet and drew back the white curtains that were surrounding his bed.  
  
All the other beds were empty; everyone was okay. Somehow, ridding Voldemort off of the school grounds broke the spells that had been cast. As he continued to look around, he noticed that Fae wasn't there any more. She had been in the bed next to his, and had surprisingly received some Get Well cards and some candy Ron had never seen. He picked up the thin, black square-shaped package and squinted to read the title.  
  
"Pop Rocks..?" He read out loud, "Must be a muggle candy."  
  
Madame Pomfrey bustled in. "Ah, Ronald, I see you're awake!"  
  
He winced; she always called him by his first name, and it annoyed him greatly. Instead, he forced a smile and she went on.  
  
"I'm sure you'll find that you're a bit sore, but if you're feeling up to it, you can leave as soon as you wish. That little Fae girl was quick to get out of here. Of course it was probably because Minerva came and drug her out."  
  
Ron's eyes widened. "How long ago did she leave?" he interrupted. Madame Pomfrey looked thoughtful for a moment.  
  
"Oh, I'd say about an hour ago. It was something about speaking about her sentence to Azkaban. The poor girl, I hope she doesn't still have to go." She was rambling, but Ron was already out the door when she turned around to him.  
  
"Thanks Madame Hooch bye!" he said in all one sentence as he painfully sprinted down the corridors, searching for he didn't know what. But he had to find Fae and figure out what was going to happen to her. Everyone was staring at him as he ran by and whispering 'did you hear?' rumors.  
  
Instead of finding Fae, when he rounded the corner he plowed right into Harry amongst a crowd of other people. He knocked the boy with the scar off his feet and almost fell himself.  
  
"Harry!"  
  
"Ron!"  
  
They immediately started tackling each other in a huge hug and shouting how much they had missed each other while they were both in the Hospital Wing. They abruptly stopped and looked at the crowd surrounding them, giving looks that said 'you dirty homosexuals!' Ron and Harry exchanged glances and purposefully deepened their voices.  
  
"I mean um.. good to see you." Harry said, giving him a manly punch in the arm.  
  
"Uh.. yeah. You too." Ron said, folding his arms and nodding. They both nervously turned their eyes to the crowd, who shook their heads and dispersed.  
  
After they were far away enough, they burst into fits of laughter and toppled onto the floor again. Eventually, when he regained his breath, Harry said, "Hermione's up in the common room with Ginny. Do you want to go see her?"  
  
Just hearing those words made Ron smile. Everything was back to normal. His brothers were back again, probably already plotting their graduation prank. Ginny and Hermione were up in the common room, probably sitting on the window, where they always sat to talk about, well, whatever it is that girls talk about.  
  
"Yeah, let's go." He said, still smiling. They got to their feet and made their way up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room, talking all the way about everything Ron and Fae had to do to get rid of Voldemort, and how everything worked out in the end.  
  
"So she was innocent," Harry said as they reached the Fat Lady. Ron lowered his eyes and slowly nodded his head. For a long time, Harry just looked at him. Did he actually feel bad about accusing her? Instead of asking, he just mumbled the password to the Fat Lady and the painting door swung open.  
  
Upon entering the common room, Ron was immediately tackled by the twins. A chorus of people shouting his name and followed closely behind. The twins got off of him and barricaded him with hugs and slaps on the back. Ginny ran over too and eventually everyone was a big mass of red hair, glasses, bushy brown hair and tangled limbs.  
  
Ron and Hermione stood facing each other, both thinking of their second year when they would only handshake after she was cured from a similar spell. Smiles spread across their faces as she jumped on him and he lifted her up in his arms and spun her around. He was laughing and crying all at once, something he seemed to be doing a lot lately, and he was sure most everyone else in the room was too.  
  
Fae was standing outside the Fat Lady, debating whether to go in or not. Last time she checked, everyone in that room despised her. She kept opening her mouth to say the password, but then shut it again. The lady in the painting seemed to be getting very frustrated, but that was the least of Fae's concerns at the moment.  
  
Suddenly, everything started happening too fast. The door swung open and all the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione started to walk out. Professor McGonagall put her hand on Fae's shoulder, popping out of nowhere like she tended to do, and drug her back down the stairs. Then a crowd of other students swarmed over to the former victims of the spells. Ron was trying to tear away from the crowd, but they held him back, unaware to what he was trying to do, and kept asking him questions. He barely caught a glimpse of Fae, as she was drug around the corner, her gray eyes boring back into his.  
  
+ + +  
  
That afternoon during lunch in the Great Hall, Dumbledore addressed the school and announced that there will be "Not only a end of the year Feast, but also a tri-school dance with Beauxbatons and Durmstrang that night." After he said this, there was excited titter from the tables; he heard Hermione in particular talking about how she'd be able to see Viktor. He apologized for the late notice, and they all knew it had to do with everything that had happened on Thursday with Ron and Fae, and Voldemort.  
  
There was to be no theme for the dance, but students were encouraged to dress up in costumes. This caused even more tittering from the tables in the Great Hall. Ron looked disgusted as he watched the headmaster nod at McGonagall and they exited.  
  
"He didn't say anything about Fae. What the bloody hell is wrong with him?" he exclaimed, earning disbelieving looks from the rest of the table. He bit his lip. "I just want to know if she's going to be out of our hair or not."  
  
Hermione slammed down her fork irritably. "You are so stubborn, Ron!" she exclaimed angrily, and surprisingly, Harry didn't try to stop her this time. "She's innocent! She did nothing wrong! It was all Voldemort's doing, and you know it! You were there with her. You need to quit being so bloody pigheaded and admit that you don't hate her. You saved her life from Voldemort last night." He was dead silent and she took the opportunity to keep ranting. "You don't have anything to hold against her any more. She was framed for everything she did. If you have feelings for her you shouldn't hide it like you always do! If you would just get your head out of your-"  
  
"Hermione!" Ginny silenced her with a hand over her mouth.  
  
Ron couldn't think of anything to do but stand up and leave the table. All eyes were on him as he left the Great Hall and went back up to the common room. On his way up, he was about to round a corner when he heard Professor McGonagall speaking with Dumbledore. He stopped in his tracks and backed against the wall.  
  
"How are things looking, Minerva?"  
  
He heard her sigh. "Not very good. We have no evidence that she is innocent.no pictures or anything."  
  
Ron suddenly gasped. "Professor McGonagall!" he exclaimed as he rounded the corner and she jumped. He realized what he had just done and swallowed nervously. "Um, I'm very sorry for eavesdropping and all but, I know how we can prove her innocent."  
  
McGonagall gasped. "Ronald Weasley! I should-" but Dumbledore cut her off.  
  
"Minerva, we need to prove her innocent and I believe that we need all the help we can get." He said, and she looked at him for a long time. She finally sighed and nodded and he turned back to Ron. "Do tell." 


	15. U

Fae, back in some new funeral clothes, felt like giving up. She doubted that there was anyone in this dimly lit room that wasn't against her, and she didn't even have Percy as her lawyer this time. What's worse, the 'judge' this time was Albert Crouch. And the whole court was run so strangely. A Dementor threw her out in front of a circular crowd of Witches and Wizards, whom she had no idea who they were, and she was asked seemingly thousands of questions. She kept her eyes on the dark floors and didn't say much, just waiting for her sentence to rise to thirty years in Azkaban.  
  
Suddenly, she heard a door burst open. She jerked her head up and saw Dumbledore striding in, followed by Professor McGonagall and.. Ron?  
  
"Albus," Mr Crouch said, sounding nervous. It quickly changed to livid, when he turned to Professor McGonagall. "How nice to see you. May I ask you just what you're doing?"  
  
"We have found some evidence to help support Fae's case, Mr Crouch," she answered confidently. She obviously didn't like this man very much; but who did? "And it was all thanks to you."  
  
Mr Crouch looked confused. "What do you mean, Minerva?" he spat. "Care to elaborate?"  
  
She marched right up to him and handed him several-what appeared to be, Fae couldn't really see them-moving photos. Ron stayed back against the wall as Dumbledore had instructed him. He was nervously eyeing the Dementors.  
  
Professor McGonagall smiled confidently. "Do you remember the cameras you placed around the school to catch who you thought was Fae creating the Dark Marks? Well, apparently you somehow got a few placed where Mr Weasley and Ms O'Connor found Voldemort. If you look closely, you will see their dueling, and Ronald's act of bravery, and the third will show you Violete Lane showing herself as Voldemort."  
  
Mr Crouch's jaw dropped, as well as Fae's. But McGonagall didn't stop there. "I don't seem to remember Hogwarts giving you permission to even put these cameras up around our school. You told me you got the permission from Albus, but you told him I gave you permission. I can't think of any scenario in which this would be legal, even though you are from the Ministry. So, if I am correct sir, I believe that if anyone here needs to be having a trial, it is you."  
  
The witches and wizards that were sitting in the circular audience looked at Mr Crouch. Before he could even say anything, two Dementors came and grabbed onto his arms, and drug him back behind a door. Immediately after, Dumbledore and McGonagall walked up into the stands and started talking to one of the witches in the back. Fae assumed that he was the second to take lead, if anything happened to Mr Crouch.  
  
Fae looked around for Ron, and finally spotted him in back, in the shadows. He slowly raised his hand in a timid wave, but before she could say anything back, the wizard that McGonagall and Dumbledore went to speak to came to Mr Crouch's podium. He didn't make any eye contact with Fae as he started to speak.  
  
"For those of you who don't know me, I am Mr Crouch's younger sister Evelyn. As you might have guessed, our entire family was in the Ministry, and I have followed in the footsteps of my two brothers. I, obviously, have known Albert for a very long time, and I also know that he was a former Death Eater. He claimed to have given up his beliefs to join the Ministry, but I never fully believed him. This evidence that has been presented has caused me to deem that he may have never given up his follows towards Voldemort. And because of this information, his trial will be held in one month. As for this case, the rest of the jury and I hereby declare the defendant.. innocent."  
  
As soon as she said this, Fae's eyes widened and a smile spread across her face. She was finally found innocent! Evelyn smiled down at her as she returned it. She heaved a sigh of relief and turned around. She was escorted out by two Dementors, and was so happy that their dark hands grasping her arms didn't even bother her. As soon as she stepped out of the old building and into the sun, she took in a deep breath, and suddenly everything was better.  
  
So even Albert Crouch used to be a Death Eater. She didn't even doubt that he still was. No wonder he was so quick to accuse her; he didn't want anyone to find out about Voldemort really being in the school.  
  
Before she had more time to think about it, her parents ran over to her and grabbed her in a hug. They weren't allowed in the courtroom and were forced to wait outside while the case went on. She told them what had happened, and how Professor McGonagall had presented the information to Mr Crouch. The old professor and Dumbledore walked over to her parents and the headmaster shook hands with her father. When Fae told her mother that she was standing right in front of the woman who had proved her innocent, she grabbed her in a hug. Her mother normally backed away when she met a witch or wizard because of her religion, but this time she was too happy. Professor McGonagall awkwardly patted her back and Fae smiled, then slipped away from their small circle.  
  
She saw Ron standing with Percy, whom had come outside to see how Fae's case had gone. She decided that talking with him might not be the best idea; he might have still had some dislike toward her. Just as she was about to turn around though, she caught his eye and he smiled and waved at her. Even though she was a little shocked she still kept her smile on and waved back. They walked over to her and Percy stood in front of her.  
  
"I'm sorry about being so prejudging about you," He mumbled, a little embarrassed, "I guess I was pretty wrong then, huh?"  
  
She laughed a little. "Ah, don't worry about it. It happens all the time," she said and waved her hand dismissively.  
  
"Maybe you can come stop by the Burrow some time over the summer and visit." Percy smiled back. Ron opened his mouth to say something, but Fae's mother came up behind her.  
  
"Ready to go back to Hogwarts? Minerva told me that there's going to be a dance tonight! And it has a theme!" she exclaimed, for once excited that her daughter was going somewhere that had to do with witchcraft. Fae groaned; another dance? And this one had a theme? But her mother steered her back inside the building where she would be traveling by Floo Powder.  
  
+ + +  
  
Fae wasn't surprised when she got back to the Gryffindor common room to find that no one was there. She was a little relieved though; she would have felt kind of awkward. It was dark by the time she was there; she ended up staying at the Ministry for a few hours longer than expected while her parents talked with everyone that was in the Order of the Phoenix. They, for some reason, suddenly took a lot of interest in Hogwarts and its history. They ended up owning a free copy of Hermione's 'bible', as Fae called it; "Hogwarts: A History." She assumed that the only reason they gave it to them was to get her parents off their backs, but she didn't say anything to them about it.  
  
The other students were already at the dance, she figured, as she trudged up the stairs to her dormitory. She sat down on her bed and kicked off her high-heeled shoes. Heaving a sigh of relief to see that she could still move her toes after all of that pain, she looked at the clock. It was only seven o'clock; there was still another four hours until the dance was over.  
  
"I can't believe I'm doing this," she mumbled as she took out a book of spells to begin constructing her costume.  
  
Half an hour later, she walked slowly and somewhat self-consciously down the stairs to the common room. Luckily, there was no one there as she stepped down to the floor and looked into the tall mirror in the corner.  
  
"Fae, you are the biggest dork I know." She said to herself, spinning around.  
  
She was wearing a knee-length, dark Easter-purple dress with dark and light gray layers at the bottom that were cut and shredded. The sleeves were the same and the square neck came down below her collarbones. A black lacy choker adorned her neck and ankles, as well as fingerless gloves that came up to about her elbows. Her shoes looked like a ballerina's, only they had thicker soles and were black. Their ribbons came winding up her legs to just below her knee. Her costume was completed with a pair of black nylon, almond shaped fairy wings, held on to her back by magic.  
  
The thing she was most afraid of was looking like a complete moron. Looking herself over in the mirror once more, her eyes fell down onto the white bandage she had wrapped around her arm from the spider pinning her against the wall. It totally threw everything else off. Peeling it back just a little, it revealed a rather large, ugly, circular scar. She sighed irritably and turned away.  
  
+ + +  
  
The Great Hall looked a lot better than it did for the Yule Ball. Instead of having flashing lights, the ceiling was enchanted to look like the night sky as it always did, only there were shooting stars every now and then. Magic "fireflies" were floating around the room just like real ones would do, and they had a band this time. Some wizard band that no one had ever heard of before that played a lot of muggle music and dressed like one, but it was good to listen to.  
  
Ron was sitting off to the side, just watching everyone. He was still in a little pain from the night before and couldn't really believe that he had dragged himself to this place; he should have been off in his dormitory sleeping. He had managed to come in unseen and stayed that way, as he just watched his friends off having fun. Hermione, dressed as herself, was talking with Lavender and Parvati, because the twins were off starting another break dancing competition. They were both dressed up as 'pimps', as the Americans might call it. Ginny, who was dressed up in a red dress with little red horns and a tail was talking with Harry. He was dressed up in white robes with little feathery wings and had a halo suspended in air by magic over his head. It was kind of awkward for Ron to watch his best friend and his younger sister flirting together, but he had grown used to the idea over the past two years. He saw Fleur over in the corner, dressed as some kind of bride or something, surrounded by as many boys as ever. He snorted; she was a bit stuck up, but she was very pretty.  
  
He himself was dressed up in a strange excuse for a knight costume; the only thing that looked like he put any effort into was the armor on his shoulders and upper arm. His shirt looked like a knight's mail, and the sword that he used to wound Voldemort hung at his side. It was a little ironic that he was wearing it and at the same time tried not to think about what happened, but he felt like he had better get used to the idea; it would be sticking with him for a while.  
  
He stole the costume idea from a muggle movie his dad had tried to figure out called, what was it, Romeo and Juliet? Either way, it was very similar to the one he had seen the Romeo wear to the party with Juliet as the angel. He hoped no one else had somehow been able to see the movie or they might think that he and Harry were supposed to be dressed up together as a couple. They had already had the incident that morning in the hall, and he was sure that quite a few students now thought them to be.. well, you know.  
  
Unfortunately, his eyes landed on Tracy and Ferret Boy. They were sitting in the back where there was even less light, and her skirt was shorter than ever. Malfoy had his arm around her shoulders and he was saying something into her neck. Crabbe and Goyle were sitting off to the side, looking as brain dead as ever. He didn't know whether he was supposed to be sad or angry, but a mix of both took over him as she met his eyes and gave him a perfectly Malfoy-identical smirk. Keeping her eyes fixed on him, she grabbed Ferret Boy's hand and led him out of the room, probably to go off and snog each other again. Ron just hoped his plan had worked, but that would be told later.  
  
His eyes unwillingly followed them out the door and stayed fixated on it even after they left. Why did she feel like she had to rub it in like that? He saw the door open again, but it shut rather quickly, and someone snuck in past the crowd and behind where everyone was dancing. It was something new to look at, but then eventually he got bored and stood up to leave. He started to stand up and right before he was about to leave, he just happened to glance over and see a fairy standing off to the side, watching him. It was Fae.  
  
Ron stood up and she took a few steps forward until they were within arms length. For a long time they just looked at each other, their expressions unreadable. A firefly floated across Fae's face, illuminating it in the darkness of the Great Hall. Finally, Ron scratched the back of his head nervously.  
  
"You look nice," he mumbled.  
  
"Same to you, Romeo," she smiled. He gave an embarrassed grin; she had obviously seen the movie character that he had modeled his costume after.  
  
"Yeah, too bad you didn't come as an angel! We could have been a couple or something!" he laughed, and as soon as the words escaped his mouth, they both got deadly quiet. Ron finally stopped clutching the back of his neck in mortification. "Do you want to go walk somewhere?"  
  
She nodded and they made their way to the door, managing to do so without attracting too much attention. They were making their way outside, and ran into Professor McGonagall. She looked like she was about to stop them, but then she realized it was the two school 'heroes'. She only nodded and let them go, mumbling something about staying away from the forest.  
  
They stepped out into the breezy summer air and walked a ways, heading unintentionally towards the lake. The last time they were there together was after they had found Malfoy and Tracy together in Madame Hooch's room. The two of them stood there, just looking out onto the water and not really knowing what to say.  
  
Ron looked at her arm nervously. "Does it hurt?" he inquired, pointing at the bandage. It was still stained with a little red spot.  
  
She smiled. "Like hell." He nodded and turned back out to the water. There was even more silence as a few fireflies flew by them.  
  
"How come you're doing all of this for me?" Fae's question surprised him.  
  
"What do you mean?" he asked nervously.  
  
She sighed with slight irritation and folded her arms. "Oh, nothing really. You know, just the fact that you saved my life from someone's name you're scared to even say, and then came up with the way to prove me innocent against the Order of the Phoenix."  
  
Ron turned red. "So I guess you heard then, huh Stormy." He squinted up his eyes; he had obviously not meant to call her by his nickname for her.  
  
"Why do you call me that?" her second question fired away. His shade of red deepened even more and he nervously kicked a rock around with his feet. "Ron?" she pressed.  
  
Shoving his hands into his pockets, he turned to face her. "It's stupid."  
  
Her intense stare didn't let up, and he finally sighed with defeat. Kicking the rock once more, he kept his eyes on the ground and mumbled something.  
  
"What?" She squinted her eyes inquisitively. He sighed and finally raised his head to look at her. It was still somewhat mumbled, but she could understand him this time.  
  
"Because," he sighed again, "the color and the light in your eyes remind me of a storm."  
  
As soon as he said this, her heart got caught in her throat. Ron, the most un-insightful person she could think of, was saying something almost.poetic? Eventually, he gave a half-hearted smile. "Told you it was stupid."  
  
"Blimey, Ron, that's not stupid," she said, and suddenly felt very self- conscious. "It was just definitely the last thing I was expecting you to say. Go raibh maith 'ad."  
  
He raised his eyebrow at her, and she smiled with embarrassment. "Sorry, I keep forgetting I'm not in Ireland any more. It means thank you." He nodded with sudden understanding and she smiled awkwardly.  
  
They heard the music inside stop; they had the volume up pretty loud. Fae liked the band though. They played her kind of music. Searching for a subject change, she said, "You never answered my first question. Why are you doing all of this for me?"  
  
He smiled and advanced towards her and gently grabbed onto her wrist. She nearly jumped at the warmth of just his fingertips on her bare skin, but managed to stay still. His awkwardness and timidity was reminded to her by a shy smile.  
  
"Because," he said and took in a deep breath, "Taim i' ngra leat."  
  
It took her a moment to understand what he said, because he hadn't pronounced it too correctly, but finally she realized that he had just said 'I love you' in Irish. Her jaw dropped; she was completely awestruck. He leaned in to kiss her, but Professor McGonagall's voice interrupted them. "You two best get inside now," she called. The tone of her voice gave away that she knew what they were doing. "I wasn't even supposed to let you out."  
  
They stopped abruptly, both turning a nice shade of red. She seemed to interrupt them at moments like that quite a lot.  
  
"Um, yes ma'am," he said. They silently followed her in, neither of them saying a word. Fae was still in shock from the fact that Ron had just said that he loved her.  
  
+ + +  
  
However, as they got back inside the Great Hall, they were taken by surprise. Right when they opened the doors, the entire room erupted into applause; everyone had been standing waiting for them. Ron stopped in the middle of his sentence and they exchanged a confused look. Finally the cheering died down. Dumbledore stood up at the head table where he always sat during meals, and smiled. He opened his arms, gesturing towards the two standing in the doorway.  
  
"The real reason for this celebration." Ron and Fae looked at each other, still not having the slightest idea what to say. The headmaster smiled. "Thank you both, greatly, for saving our school and the victims."  
  
There was more applause from everyone's smiling faces, and the twins along with some of their Seventh Year friends came up from in the crowd and lifted them onto their shoulders. The crowd kept cheering as they were paraded around the room.  
  
Fae looked around the room and finally spotted Professor McGonagall standing next to Dumbledore. She smiled and mouthed the words 'thank you', for her rescue at the court, even though it was mainly Ron's idea. The Professor smiled back and nodded her head. The students holding Ron and Fae up finally set them down, and Hermione and Ginny ran over.  
  
They nearly tackled Fae to the ground in a hug, very out of character for the bushy-headed one, but no body really minded. Fae heaved a sigh of relief to know that she had gotten two of her best friends back and they didn't hate her anymore, and hugged back.  
  
"We're so sorry we accused you!" Ginny wailed, hugging her again and nearly pricking her neck with one of her devil horns from her costume.  
  
She smiled. "Ginny, I've heard people saying they were sorry all day. Don't worry about it."  
  
Harry walked over to their gathering with his hands in his pockets and a smile on his face. He stood before Fae for a moment before she just grabbed him in a hug. For a moment he just stood there with a look of not knowing what to do, until finally he hugged back and she let go. Then the twins tackled her rather loudly and less gently than Hermione and Ginny had.  
  
Fred grabbed the sides of her face and noisily gave her a kiss on her cheek. "Fae! We love you!" he wailed, pretending to cry. George nodded and sniffed, giving her puppy dog eyes. She took this as their apology and just smiled at him until they both crushed her in another hug.  
  
The band started to play again; another song by Social Burn. As the guitar chords sounded, Fae recognized the song as "U". The singer/lead guitarist of the band stepped up to the microphone, and she was surprised to see that they weren't using magic. They had all their amps, pedals and microphones with them when they could have just used the spell to make their instruments and voices louder.  
  
"Take back those tears/That you sometimes cry/I'll be right here/Till your  
fears subside/It won't take long/You just need some time"  
  
Fae looked around and saw that some people were actually dancing; Ginny and Harry were near her, and Hermione and Viktor were farther off doing the same. Fred and George caught their younger sister's eye and teasingly grabbed each other in a tight embrace and started to slow dance. She blushed a little, but laughed and just flipped them off. Recognizing the bridge before the chorus, Fae turned back to the band and started to lip- sync the words to herself with a smile on her face.  
  
"Why can't you see/That I want you /I need you/In everything/That I do/I  
want you/Cause I love you/And everything/About you"  
  
She looked around again, trying to find Ron, but he was nowhere in sight. Probably off with the twins or something, she thought to herself.  
  
"Take back those years/That you try to hide/Relax yourself/Don't lose your  
mind"  
  
Professor McGonagall walked through the dance floor hurriedly, holding pieces of paper in her hand. Fae cringed, hoping it wasn't for her. She did not want to go to court again. Instead, she breezed right by her and up to Malfoy and Tracy, who were standing in the back somewhere.  
  
"Why can't you see/Who you can be/Cause I want you/I need you/In everything/That I do/I want you/Cause I love you/And everything/About you"  
  
During the guitar solo, a few students watched as McGonagall shoved the papers (Fae recognized them as more of those moving pictures) in Tracy and Malfoy's eyes. She appeared to be yelling at them for something, and they both had looks of horror on their faces. Ron returned behind Fae, smiling with satisfaction as the Professor grabbed them both tightly by their shoulders and dragged them towards the door.  
  
"What's that all about?" Fae asked, pointing.  
  
He still smiled. "Remember when we, well, walked in on them that one time?" She nodded, still not seeming to understand. "Remember those cameras that Mr Crouch had planted all over the school?"  
  
She gasped, and turned with her jaw drop as McGonagall walked right by them, with Tracy and Malfoy in tow. He turned and looked at her, looking nothing less than livid. She couldn't help it; she burst out laughing and waved at him with a huge, sarcastic smile on her face. "I knew you'd get yours!" she called. He flipped her off and called them something, most likely 'mudbloods', but he was already being dragged out the door before he even finished his yelling.  
  
"What's going to happen to them?" Fae asked, and Ron shrugged.  
  
"Not sure. Expelled, obviously, and charges will probably be pressed for snogging in the school, and being out after curfew."  
  
She looked confused. "But weren't we out after curfew too? I mean we had to be to find them."  
  
"McGonagall lifted that for us. I think we've become favorites, surprisingly."  
  
Just after he finished his sentence, the twins called him over. He excused himself and ran over to them, and Fae watched him leave, smiling to herself. The band came to the final chorus and she turned to look at them and sing along to herself.  
  
"I want you/I need you/In everything/That I do/And I want you/Cause I love  
you/And Everything/About you"  
  
She glanced over behind her shoulder and just happened to look right at Harry and Ginny. The two were off in the corner, finally kissing. Hermione came up behind her with Viktor, and Fae immediately pointed it out to her.  
  
"Finally!" she exclaimed, agreeing with her.  
  
Wondering if Ron had seen, Fae looked at him, but he was busy talking. She caught his eye and he smiled at her, and the twins saw whom he was watching and did the same. She returned it along with a small wave, and turned back around. Suddenly, she felt his hands on her hips as he spun her around to face him, leaned down and kissed her. She heard Hermione gasp from behind her, but it didn't stop either of them. At length, he parted his lips from hers and looked down at her.  
  
"Sorry, I didn't get to do that earlier."  
  
She looked at him with uncertainty for a minute, but finally a smile spread across her face. He smiled back and ran back to the twins, his shyness kicking in once more. She watched after him as he left, still smiling to herself. And it was in that moment that she realized.  
  
.Everything was going to be okay.  
  
"I want you/I need you/In everything/That I do/And I need you/Cause I love  
you/And everything about you." 


	16. Swing, Swing

The next day, everyone was signing yearbooks and taking pictures. Fae and Hermione were walking through the halls together slowly, soaking up the school for the rest of the day; they were leaving tomorrow.  
  
"Well Hermione, I think everything's finally back to normal," she said, concentrating on her professional muggle camera she was fiddling around with. Just as she finished her sentence, Pansy Parkinson and a couple of other Slytherins walked by, looking at her.  
  
"Look at those Dykes," One of them mumbled, and Pansy erupted into giggles.  
  
Fae narrowed her eyes. "Go dtachta an diabhalito!"  
  
They looked at her strangely for a moment before exchanging glances and walk away.  
  
"What was that?" Hermione asked slowly.  
  
She shrugged. "Just some Irish curse. May the Devil choke you or something like that."  
  
Hermione started laughing and put her arm through Fae's. "Yeah, I'd say everything's back to normal," she said, and they walked off to go find someone to take pictures of.  
  
+ + +  
  
On the Hogwarts express, the Gryffindors were pretty much in the same seating arrangement as they were earlier that year. Well, except Ginny and Harry weren't sweet-talking and kissing cheeks and holding hands.  
  
Harry said something to Ginny and she giggled like a schoolgirl and kissed him. George sighed.  
  
"Now is that really necessary?" he asked teasingly, and Fred nodded with the same facetious look on his face. Ginny just told them to shut up and put her head on his shoulder again.  
  
Ron heaved a sigh. "Blimey, this is awkward," he whispered to no one in particular, but Fae heard and laughed. Since she was seated directly across from him, she yawned and rested her small feet on his knees. He gave a rather embarrassed, shy smile and didn't meet her eyes.  
  
Fred and George had been whispering and writing things down on paper, being completely obvious. They all knew they were perfecting their final prank of the year, and were all on edge, just waiting for something to explode. Fae had noticed their resentment towards Tracy ever since they found out what she had done to their younger brother. They didn't even bring it up any more (nobody really did) but she knew that they'd stick up for him if she tried to give him any more grief. Fae thought it was cute.  
  
They had broken up with their girlfriends, although they explained it as being 'just a fling'. Lavender seemed to take it differently, but Parvati agreed. She was obviously the nice one out of the two.  
  
Hermione was reading a book that her more melancholic Irish friend had leant her: The Collective Tales and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe. She found them to be a little morbid, but liked them any way. She had remained somewhat silent the entire ride, busying herself in reading about people being buried alive and men cutting their cat's eye out. Every now and then a surprised-or more or less horrified-look would cross over her face, giving away that she was reading a rather gruesome part.  
  
Fae watched her for a while, laughing at her expressions, and then began writing in her diary.  
  
June 8  
  
I can' t believe the school year is finally over. It's strange; when I  
first got here, I hated it and wanted it to end so quickly. But now I  
don't want it to be over. The twins are graduating and won't be back  
next year, it's sad. I have to say that the year that I got to know  
them for was pretty entertaining. Although I'm a little afraid to find  
out what their senior prank is going to be. Ron and I are getting along  
now, fairly well. Well, more than 'fairly'. Percy and the twins  
suggested that I should stop by the burrow over the summer, but I  
haven't heard it from him yet so I don't know. I'd like to see Ginny,  
too; she's turned out to be a nice kid. And I think I've had a bit of a  
bad effect on Hermione. She's started swearing and reading my book on  
Poe.  
  
She paused her writing for a moment and looked out the window. Everything had changed so much. The last time she had been on this train, it was in September. Back when she barely knew everyone she was sitting with-save Hermione, of course-and she and Ron were virtually worst enemies, next to Malfoy.  
  
We're almost there, she thought sadly, recognizing the surroundings that lead to King's Cross. She truthfully didn't even want to leave Hogwarts, and thinking that she wouldn't see the twins very often any more, and only be going back for two more years made her even more remorse.  
  
"Oh my God! Fae!" one of the twins called. She turned her head and saw a bright flash, and George, the one who had taken the picture, laughed. She hadn't even noticed that they had stolen her camera, but she didn't care. She wanted as many pictures as possible and knew that they would probably use the whole roll of film before the train ride was over.  
  
"So Fae, we will be seeing you over the summer, won't me? I mean with.." Fred pointed at she and Ron and moved his fingers to symbolize some sort of connection. Ron's ears turned pink and he shrugged.  
  
"Up to her," he mumbled, as the train pulled into the station.  
  
Fae felt her heart sink as it rolled to a stop and the steam released. Heaving a sigh, she watched as the others stood up, obviously ready to get off the train. They all exited the car, but she stayed behind and looked out the window.  
  
Don't cry you pansy, she told her self. It's not like your graduating or anything.  
  
She took in a deep breath and blinked hard. She could see in her reflection that her eyes were turning red.  
  
You've cried enough lately. You've had your arm nearly impaled, glass stuck in your back, been accused for performing the Unforgivable Curses. And now you want to cry because school's out and two of your friends are graduating. I think you're okay.  
  
A moment later, Hermione poked her head in. "Come on!" she said, and her smile faded. "Wow, are you alright?" she asked.  
  
Fae wiped her left eye with the back of her hand and a smile spread across her face. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks." She said, and scribbled down the last few sentences in her diary.  
  
Well, time to go congratulate the twins and plaster a smile on. I'll be  
okay. I think. Wish me luck, hehe.  
  
- Faelyn  
  
She stood up and shoved her diary in her pocket (yes, those are some big pants she's wearing.) Hermione smiled at her and they linked arms, something they had gotten used to since she had been around.  
  
They stepped off the train and looked around for where their group had gone. They finally spotted them standing in a circle with a few newly added people, giving hugs and saying goodbyes. She took in a deep breath to steady herself-Hermione heard and giggled, putting her hand on her arm comfortingly-and they walked over to them.  
  
Seamus, whom Fae had never really gotten that close to signed her yearbook and gave her a quick hug out of politeness. Then he said goodbye and ran off to his parents. Parvati, Dean Thomas, Neville, and a few others did the same. Fae was just standing there watching everyone else and waiting for Neville to finish signing her yearbook, when Lavender came up and pulled her off to the side.  
  
"I just wanted to say sorry," she mumbled without even giving Fae a chance to speak. She just stared back at her, and she added nervously "Didn't wanna end off in a bad note, you know?"  
  
There was a while of silence, and she stared back at Fae with a worried expression. Finally, the Irish girl just laughed and gave her a hug, and they signed each other's yearbooks and she departed to find her parents. As she watched her leave, she noticed that nobody who had left their group had even really left the train station yet; they were all just standing around with their families.  
  
Ron walked over to her shortly after Lavender was gone. They hadn't really said much since he had kissed her at the end of the year dance, and she was surprised that he even came up to her at all.  
  
"Um, hi Fae."  
  
"Hi, Ron." She said slowly, a little confused.  
  
He smiled nervously. "Hey listen, um, my brothers and Ginny were all talking about it, and we asked my mum and everything, and um, would you um," he paused and sighed. "Wanna come stay at the burrow for a while during summer vacation? For maybe a week or so? You could stay in Ginny's room and everything. Harry and Hermione already said they'd stop by too. I was just wondering. Of course if you don't want to I completely understand. So don't even worry about hurting my feelings or anything because-"  
  
"Ron!" Fae finally shouted, and he immediately shut up. She smiled. "I'd love to."  
  
He looked surprised. "You.. would?"  
  
"Yeah, sure of course!" she said enthusiastically, keeping her smile.  
  
He heaved a sigh of relief. "Glad that's over with. I was a little nervous about asking."  
  
She laughed, "Yeah, I could tell." He looked surprised for a minute, but then started laughing along with her and playfully grabbed her in a crushing hug.  
  
Suddenly, they heard what sounded like fireworks going off and both of them jumped. A few students around them gasped and even a few of them let out a scream. They all quickly turned around and saw, suspended in midair, big glittery letters that had obviously been a spell.  
  
DRACO MALFOY IS A MAN WHORE AND  
TRACY CARREERE IS HIS HO  
  
They both covered their dropped jaws with their hands and gasped. Immediately, everyone looked over at Fred and George, who were trying to look just as surprised as everyone else was, and failing miserably. The twins looked over at Ron briefly though and winked at him. He and Fae were surprised to hear many students around them start laughing, and then a loud applause erupted. Apparently more people knew about what had happened between Ron, Fae, Malfoy and Tracy than they had thought. And apparently more people disliked them than did before.  
  
Fae and Ron took one look at each other and then burst into fits of laughter, and started clapping along with everyone else.  
  
"Fred and George Weasley!" Mrs Weasley's shouting was heard over the students' laughter and applause.  
  
"Yes mother?" two voiced tried to sound as innocent as possible while chortling at the same time. Mrs Weasley ran over to them and started scolding them loud enough for everyone to hear, but nobody really cared. They were still applauding their Seventh Year prank.  
  
Fae looked up to Ron after her laughter had died down to a giggle. "Well, this sure has been one rad year." A smirk covered her face. "Hasn't it, Weasley?"  
  
He smiled back down at her. "Yeah, I suppose it has. Even though I spent most of it handcuffed to some crazy drunken Irish woman."  
  
They both laughed and he bent his head down and kissed her as all the students around them started running to the twins to say how much they enjoyed the prank. They remained together as the students swarmed around them, and she put her arms around his neck. And Professor McGonagall didn't even interrupt them this time. 


End file.
